PACIFIC HALIBUT FISHERIES 3 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 38a 



coinciding with that of the codfish. But whereas the spawning of the codfish, as ■well 

 as that of many other species that discharge pelagic floating eggs, has become well 

 known since modern fishery investigations were inaugurated during the years 1864- 

 66 by Prof. G. O. Sars, operating on behalf of the Norwegian Govcrnrent in the 

 neighbourhood of the Lofoten islands, that of the halibut has so far baffled all attempts 

 to solve the problem. 



With regard to the difficult subject of the migrations of the halibut, which have 

 not yet been investigated by the laborious method of marking, liberating, and recap- 

 turing the fishes, it is necessary to distinguish between feeding and spawning migra- 

 tions. It is certain that they come inshore to feed, but it is not definitely proved- 

 that they move into deeper water to spawn. Goode (op. cit. p. 195) observes that on 

 the coast of Newfoundland, Anticosti, and Labrador, halibut frequently run inshore- 

 in summer after capelin, often swimming to the surface. A. B. Alcxand r, in his- 

 " Preliminaiy Examination of Halibut Fishing Grounds of the Pacific coast " (Bureau 

 of Fisheries, Document No. 763, Washington, 1912), referring to tha 1 cality of 

 Chignik bay, Alaska, says : " It is not uncommon to find halibut in the salmon traps 

 here during the season, and occasionally large individuals are taken in the harbour 

 and lagoon close to the wharves, being attracted from offshore grounds by the offal 

 from the canneries," 



The U.S.S. Albatross, thoroughly equipped for special service, spent the season 

 from May 25 to August 29, 1911, investigating the commercial possibilities of the 

 halibut grounds off the coast of Alaska, without including the question of propaga- 

 tion in the scope of the inquiry. Even with this restriction, the experienc. showed 

 that " to cover the fishing banks of Alaska thoroughly ' and indicate accurately the 

 areas where halibut exist in commercial quantities would req^iire several seasons of 

 active work," but on the other hand, " the phenomenal catches landed in the last 

 few years suggest no stringencp^ of supply on grounds now fished, and this fact will 

 doubtless delay the expansion of the fishery" (A. B. Alexander, op. cit.). The Pacific 

 Fisherman (Seattle, July 5, 1914, p. 28) contains the following significant market 

 report : " On June 30 |"1914] the halibut industry closed another dis.astrous (from a 

 financial standpoint) month. The independent schooners brought in the largest quan- 

 tity they ever delivered in Seattle, with the exception of May, 1913, in any one 

 previous month. The company vessels also brought in the Ilargest catch since August, 

 1913. It is very evident that there can be no permanent improvement in the fishery 

 unless the market for halibut is extended considerably^, or the output materially 

 decreased." 



Evidence is forthcoming from various sources that the Atlantic halibut is a 

 summer-spawning fish. As for the east coast of America, one of Dr. Goode's inform- 

 ants told him that on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland in August, 1878, he found 

 many with the spawn .already run out. This was confirmed by another fishing master 

 who had often seen halibut in July and August, up to the first of September, with 

 ova and milt exuding, at which time very little food is found in their stomachs. But 

 the value of such explicit statements as these is discounted by the absence of pre- 

 served material and accessory data. 



An early description of the ripe, detached, though not deposited eggs of the 

 Atlantic halibut was given by E. W. L. Holt, whose account is summarized 

 by J. T. Cunningham in '" The Natural History of the Marketable Marine Fishes of 

 the British Islands " (London, 1896, see p. 243) : " On April 30, 1892, Mr. Holt 

 obtained some ripe ova by pressing the abdomen of a female [halibut] in the market 

 at Grimsby. The eggs were dead, but the transparency and uniform character of the 

 yolk showed that they were ripe. These eggs were 3-07 to 3-81 mm. in diameter. The 

 yolk was like that of the plaice or flounder, colourless, transparent, and undivided,- 

 and there was no oil globule. It was evident that the eggs were of the floating kind, 

 although not being alive they did not flcat. No floating eggs so large as this have 



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