144 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
become so scarce that it is useless to remain longer on the ground. Fishermen can 
give no cause for this sudden disappearance other than that the halibut are traveling 
in schools, going from one bank to another, not stopping long at any one place. 
On all the grounds halibut are more plentiful in winter than in summer, and are 
scarcer in June than at any other time in the year. At this season they begin to 
scatter all through the numerous bays and channels of British Columbia and south- 
eastern Alaska. At places where salmon canneries are located, halibut in considerable 
numbers are seen feeding on the offal that is thrown away. In the fall months fewer 
halibut are found among the islands; it is then that they seek more remote localities. 
Fishermen say that on banks composed of rock, sand, and gravel bottom the food 
of halibut is largely sand-lance. In the vicinity of Bose Point their food is mostly 
crabs, the bottom being thickly covered with that species. It is said that on ground 
where red rockfish are plentiful few halibut may be looked for. 
Herring, both fresh and salt, is the bait principally used for catching halibut. 
Boats sailing from Puget Sound ports lay in a supply before starting out on a voyage. 
It is generally kept on ice, although sometimes a quantity is salted. Considerable 
salt herring is used by the Canadian vessels. When on the fishing-grounds the trawls 
usually take large quantities of small fish of various species, which are not market- 
able; these are also used for bait. Halibut, not being very particular as to what kind 
of bait is presented to them, it is not at all difficult to satisfy their appetite. Dogfish, 
with the skin removed, makes a very good bait; good catches have been taken with it. 
The price of halibut on this coast does not fluctuate in the same manner as it does 
in the East. While it sometimes suddenly rises 4 and 5 cents a pound, it seldom goes 
above 10 cents a pound. The average price for 1895 and 1896 w r as from 2f to 3 cents 
a pound. During the month of June several trips werq sold for a cent a pound. A 
trip of 20,000 pounds lay in the harbor of Seattle a week without receiving an offer, 
the fish being finally taken to Tacoma and sold for a cent a pound. As a rule the 
supply of halibut exceeds the demand, keeping the price at a low figure. 
Halibut caught on Flattery Bank average about 18 pounds; those taken on 
grounds in the Straits of Fuca run about 25 pounds. Fish from the Straits are better 
in quality than those from the offshore grounds. The northern halibut are still 
larger than those in the Straits of Fuca; they average fully 30 pounds, and occasion- 
ally individuals weighing 175 and 200 pounds are caught. As a rule, fish of this size 
are inferior in quality, and many of them are not considered worth saving at all. 
Frequently among the large halibut gray ones will be found, but few of this color 
are found among small fish. 
An occasional trip of fletched halibut is caught on the northern banks, but this 
branch of the fishery has never been carried on very extensively, owing largely to the 
light demand for smoked halibut on the Pacific Coast. A number of carloads of fresh 
halibut shipped east that did not meet with ready sale have been fletched and smoked. 
Fletches from northern halibut are of good quality, but those from halibut caught in 
the vicinity of Cape Flattery are not considered so good. 
