THE HALIBUT: MIGRATIONS. 195 



catch of Halibut in less than one hundred fathoms on any of the banks. The great schools that 

 were found in the western part of the Grand Bank in February and March, 1876 and 1877, appear to 

 be migrating. The fish that were found to the south of latitude 44° north were mostly small-sized 

 white Halibut. They went off the bank into deep water, and nobody knew what became of them. 

 Those that were caught to the north of this parallel were mostly large gray flsh, and were traced as 

 far as Saint Peter's Bank. These are possibly the same flsh— they are certainly the same kind of 

 iish— that struck in on the western coast of Newfoundland in the summer months in pursuit of 

 capelin." 



Gapt. George A. Johnson states that the large Halibut frequent the outer and deeper part 

 of the banks, while the little " bull flsh" lie inside, on shallower ground, and are caught on the inner 

 end of the trawl lines, but that sometimes the large Halibut come up on the shallow grounds. 



On the coast of Newfoundland, Anticosti, and Labrador, Halibut frequently run inshore in 

 summer after capelin. When in shallow water near the shore they are usually wild and very active. 

 The fishermen within eight years have extended their fishing much farther out to sea ; previous to 

 that time the greater part of the Halibut were taken on the top of the Grand Bank in thirty to 

 fifty fathoms of water, but after the beginning of April the flsh went elsewhere, and the flshermen 

 lost sight of them. They soon learned, however, to follow them down the slopes of the banks, bnt 

 before 1876 had rarely flshed in water deeper than seventy to ninety fathoms. Since that time, as 

 has already been stated, fishing has been carried into twice or three times that depth. All that can 

 at present be said in explanation of their movements is that they occur in great schools, and, soon 

 consuming the available food in any one locality, are obliged to shift their position to some other 

 place where they can find fresh pastures. It does not seem possible that their migrations can be 

 caused by conditions of temperature or are in connection with their breeding habits. During the 

 breeding season the schools sometimes remain for months in one locality, and these places are 

 generally of limited extent. While spawning but little if any food is found in their stomachs. 



Food. — They are large-mouthed, sharp-toothed, voracious, although adapted for life upon the 

 bottom, and doubtless feed largely upon crabs and mollusks ; they are particularly fond of fish of 

 all kinds ; these they waylay, lying upon the bottom, invisible by reason of their flat bodies, colored 

 to correspond with the general color of the sand or mud upon which they rest. When in pursuit 

 of their prey they are active, and often come quite to the surface, especially when in the summer 

 they follow the capelin to the shoal water near the land. They feed upon skates, cod, haddock, 

 menhaden, mackerel, herring, lobsters, flounders, sculpins, grenadiers, turbot, Norway haddock, 

 bank clams, and anything else that is eatable and can be found in the same waters. Captain Ashby 

 tells me that common flounders and flat flsh are among their most favorite food; they follow them 

 up on the shoals of George's and Nantucket ; they lie in wait for them on the sand-rips and catch 

 them as they swim over. He has seen a half bushel of flat flsh in the stomach of one ; they stow 

 them away very tightly. He has often seen Halibut chasing flat flsh over the surface of the water. 

 About Cape Sable their favorite food seems to be haddock and cusk. He has seen eight or ten pounds 

 of haddock and cod taken out of one of them. When they are on the shoals they are sometimes 

 filled with flat-fish, haddock, cusk, sculpin, and herring, but when in deep water he has found very 

 little food in them. They eat crabs and other crustaceans, but shells are rarely found in their 

 stomachs, except those of clams and mussels. 



Captain Hurlbert tells me that when the vessels are dressing codfish on the Grand Banks, and 

 the back-bones and head are thrown overboard, these are frequently found in the stomachs of 

 Halibut taken in the same locality. 



