REPORTS OF STORAGE HOLDINGS. 



41 



HALIBUT. 



This is "the largest and most valuable of the flat fishes and is found 

 both in the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is one of the 

 largest species used for food, sometimes weighing over 300 pounds. 

 The average weight is from 50 to 75 pounds. It is caught with trawls 

 and hand lines. There are three grades of halibut, the 'white,' which 

 has its underside immaculate, is considered the best and brings the 

 highest price; the 'gray' is blotched on the underside and sells for a 

 third less; the 'sour' is tainted and brings only about a fourth as 

 much as the 'white.' Small young fish weighing from 10 to 20 pounds 

 are called 'chickens' and are greatly sought after by epicures." 



On January 1, 1918, the stocks of frozen halibut amounted to 

 5,293,936 pounds and the holdings decreased to a little less than 

 2,000,000 pounds on April 15. The holdings then increased until 

 September 15, when 11,946,117 pounds were reported. This amount 

 was approximately 36.5 per cent more than the quantity stored the 

 previous year. 



Table 32. — Monthly cold storage holdings of frozen halibut during 1918, and increase 

 or decrease during each month. 



Month. 



January. _ 

 February-. 



March 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August 



September 



October 



November 

 December. 



Holdings 

 on fifteenth 

 of month. 



Pounds. 



5,293,936 



2,849,638 



1,972,997 



1,933,8.56 



2,829,311 



5,684,821 



7,371,662 



10,536,867 



11,946,117 



11,729,772 



11,602,376 



10,300,701 



Relative 

 percent- 

 age. 



Per cent. 

 44.3 

 23.9 

 16.5 

 16.2 

 23.7 

 47.6 

 61.7 

 88.2 

 100.0 

 98.2 

 97.1 

 86.2 



Increase or decrease 

 during month. 



Pounds. 

 -2,444,298 



- 876,641 



- 39,141 

 + 895,455 

 +2,855,510 

 + 1,686,841 

 + 3,165,205 

 + 1,409,250 



- 216,345 



- 127,396 

 -1,301,675 

 -2,409,360 



Per cent. 



- 46.2 



- 30.8 



- 2.0 

 + 46.3 

 + 100.9 

 + 29.7 

 + 42,9 

 + 13.4 



- 1.8 



- 1.1 



- 11.2 



- 23.4 



Table 33. — Monthly cold storage holdings of frozen halibut during 1918 compared 



with those of 1917. 



Mouth. 



Reported for 1918. 



Storages 

 reporting. 



Holdings 



reported 



on fifteenth 



of month. 



Comparison with 1917. 



Storages 



reporting 



for both 



dates. 



1917. 



1918. 



Increase 



or 

 decrease. 



January.. 

 February.. 



March 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August 



September 



October 



November 

 December. 



Number. 



105 



110 



113 



109 



90 



79 



81 



87 



78 



82 



88 



97 



Pounds. 



5,293,936 



2,849,638 



1,972,997 



1,933,856 



2,829,311 



5,684,821 



7,371,662 



10,536,867 



11,946,117 



11,729,772 



11,602,376 



10,300,701 



Number. 

 85 

 87 

 89 

 89 

 72 

 59 

 62 

 68 

 60 

 70 

 80 

 93 



Pounds. 



4,118,337 



1,144,144 



1,003,764 



1,156,983 



2,458,513 



3,535,529 



4,611,518 



5,971,371 



6,749,648 



6,792,095 



8,544,995 



6,409,143 



Pounds, 



4,086,373 

 1,872,553 

 1,000,077 

 1,195.219 

 2,363,115 

 5,183,009 

 5,707,822 

 7,958,357 

 9,213,890 

 9,141,854 

 10,973,624 

 9,919,130 



Per cent. 



- 0.8 

 + 63.7 



. - 0.4 

 + 3.3 



- 3.9 

 +46.6 

 + 23.8 

 + 33.3 

 + 36.5 

 + 34.6 

 + 28.4 

 + 54.8 



