1885. | A Brief Biography of the Halibut. g6r 
marketable fishes are pure white. Almost all the largest halibut 
are classed among the grays, Fishermen claim that there is no 
actual difference between the gray and white fish, and it is a fair 
question whether they may not be right. 
Migrations.—It is useless to attempt to describe at this time the 
migrations of the halibut from place to place; although much 
information has been received upon this subject, the problem 
requires long and careful study. 
Captain Benjamin Ashby, of Noank, Connecticut, who is 
familiar with the fisheries south of Cape Cod, informs me that 
halibut frequent the deepest water in the spring and fall, and that 
in May and June they come up in the shoal water, in sixty or 
seventy fathoms, while in July they begin to go out again into 
deep water, and by the latter part of the month are on the way 
into the gully near the north-east part of George’s bank. 
Captain Joseph W. Collins, undoubtedly the best authority 
upon the subject, briefly expresses his views as follows; “ Halibut 
are found in the deep water—say from 100 to 250 fathoms in 
depth—on the edge of all the banks from George’s to the Grand 
bank the year round. Sometimes, however, they seem to be more 
numerous in comparatively shallow water in the winter and early 
spring. This was the case in the winters and springs of 1875-’76. 
and 1876-77, as well as in the year preceding, but in 1878 
there was no great catch of halibut in less than 100 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, appeared 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 fish, and were 
_ traced as far as Saint Peter’s bank. These are possibly the same 
fish—they are certainly the same kind of fish—that struck in on 
the western coast of Newfoundland and in the summer months in. 
pursuit of capelin.” 
_ Capt. George A. Johnson states that the large halibut generally 
frequent the outer and deeper part of the banks, while the little 
“bull fish” lie inside, on shallower ground, and are caught on the 
_ inner end of the trawl lines ; sometimes, however, the large halibut: 
also come up on the shallow grounds. 
