1885. ] A Brief Biography of the Halibut. 967 
Gloucester, assures me that halibut “ spawn, just like the human 
race, at any time of the year.” In April, 1878, he was fishing on 
Quereau bank and found large and small halibut, the large ones 
full of spawn. In May he was on Le Have bank, where he found 
only small male fish full of milt; in June he was on Le Have 
again, fishing in shallow water, where he found plenty of “ small 
bull fish, with their pockets full of milt;” in July he was again 
on Quereau bank, where he found a school of small and big male 
and female fish, all apparently spawning or ready to spawn, “with 
milt and pees soft ;” in August he was on the outer part of Sable 
island, where he found females full of spawn. 
Captain Ashby, speaking of the halibut on George’s banks, 
States that roe is always found in them in May and June. The 
roes of a large halibut caught by him in 1848 on the south-west 
part of George’s, and which weighed 356 pounds, after it had been 
- dressed and its head removed, weighed 44 pounds. He states 
that the halibut in this region have spawn in them as late as 
‘Connecticut vessels continue to catch them, or until September. 
He has seen eggs in halibut of twenty pounds weight, and thinks 
they begin to breed at that size. The spawn of the halibut is a 
favorite food of the fishermen of Southern New England, though 
never eaten by those of Cape Ann. 
Captain Hurlbert, of Gloucester, tells me that on the Grand 
banks of Newfoundland the spawning halibut school used to come 
up in shoal water in forty or fifty fathoms. In August, 1878, he 
found many with the spawn already run out. At that time sev- 
eral Gloucester fishermen reported that the halibut on Le Have 
and Quereau banks were full of spawn. Captain Collins told me 
that in July and August, and up to the first of September, they 
are found here with the ovaries very large, and are often seen 
with the ova and milt exuding. The ovaries of a large fish are 
too heavy to be lifted by a man without considerable exertion, 
being often two feet or more in length. At this time very little 
food is found in their stomachs. In September, 1878, the Fish 
Commission obtained from Captain Collins the roes of a fish 
weighing from 190 to 200 pounds, taken by the schooner Marion 
on the 13th of the month on Quereau bank. This fish was taken 
at the depth of 200 fathoms, and the temperature of the water 
was roughly recorded at 36° F. These ovaries were put into a 
basket with ice and brought to the laboratory of the Fish Com- 
