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consists of one or more baited skates tied together and laid on the ocean bottom with anchors at each end. Each end has a float line with a buoy attached. Hooks are typically baited with frozen herring, octopus, or other fresh fish. Depending on the fishing ground, depth, time of year, and bait used, a set is pulled 2–20 hours after being fished. Longlines are normally pulled off the ocean floor by a hydraulic puller of some type. The halibut are cleaned soon after being boated and are kept on ice to retain freshness.
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qualify for the state's trophy fish program. Anglers use stout saltwater gear to harvest halibut. Most anglers prefer to fish with bait, especially herring, but also squid, octopus, cod pieces, or other small bottom fish. To get the bait down to the halibut, it is usually fished on a wire spreader or a sliding-sinker rig with sinker size 4 oz (113 g) to 4 lb (1.81 kg), depending on such factors as depth and current.
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the right side of the fish. During this time, the young halibut rise to the surface and are carried to shallower water by prevailing currents. At six months, the halibut have their adult form and are about 1.4 in (3.6 cm) long. In the shallower water, young halibut then begin life as bottom-dwellers. Most young halibut ultimately spend from five to seven years in rich, shallow nursery grounds such as the Bering Sea.
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smaller boats of schooner design from 60 to 100 ft (18.3 to 30.5 m) were used by fishermen. These boats carried crews of five to eight and were specifically designed for halibut fishing. Today, many types of boats are used in the halibut industry. Most of the old-style halibut schooners have been replaced by more versatile craft that may also be used in commercial salmon seine, troll, gill net, and crab fisheries.
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are embedded in the skin. Halibut have both eyes on their dark upper sides. The color on the dark side varies, but tends to assume the coloration of the ocean bottom. The underside is lighter, appearing more like the sky from below. This color adaptation allows halibut to avoid detection by both prey and predator. They are one of the largest flatfish (only surpassed by the closely related
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sport-angler preference. Fishing for
Pacific halibut is regulated by the International Pacific Halibut Commission. Members from the United States and Canada meet yearly to review research, check the progress of the commercial fishery, and make regulations for the next fishing season. The management of halibut fishing by this commission is intended to allow a
289:, living on or near the bottom of the water and prefer water temperatures ranging from 3 to 8 °C (37.4 to 46.4 °F). Pacific halibut belong to the family Pleuronectidae. From November to March, mature halibut concentrate annually on spawning grounds along the edge of the continental shelf at depths from 183 to 457 m (600 to 1,500 ft).
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Fertilized eggs hatch after about 15 days. Free-floating larvae float for up to six months and can be transported several hundred miles counter-clockwise by North
Pacific currents. During the free-floating stage, many changes take place in the young halibut, including the movement of the left eye to
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Pacific halibut have diamond-shaped bodies. They are more elongated than most flatfishes, their width being about one-third of their length. They have a high arch in the lateral line over the pectoral fin, and a lunate, or crescent-shaped tail, which is different from other flatfishes. Small scales
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of the North
Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. Fishing for the Pacific halibut is mostly concentrated in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea, off the west coast of Canada. Small halibut catches are reported in coastal Washington, Oregon, and California. Pacific halibut is broken up into 10 regularity
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Commercial halibut fishing probably began in 1888 when three sailing ships from New
England fished off the coast of Washington. As the industry grew, company-owned steamers carrying several smaller dories, from which the fishing was actually conducted, dominated the halibut industry. Subsequently,
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Halibut taken by anglers are generally 15 to 20 lb (6.8 to 9.1 kg) in weight, but fish over 150 lb (68 kg) are regularly caught. The current Alaska state record for a sport-caught halibut is 459 lb (208 kg), and a fish must weigh at least 250 lb (113 kg) to
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Invariably, b is close to 3.0 for all species, and c is a constant that varies between species. A weight-length relationship based on a least-squares fit to data published in 2003 by the
International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) suggests, for Pacific halibut, c = 0.00018872 and b = 3.24.
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Spawning takes place during the winter, with the peak of activity occurring from
December through February. Most spawning takes place off the edge of the continental shelf in deep waters of 600 to 1,500 ft (183 to 457 m). Male halibut become sexually mature at 7–8 years of age, while
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Halibut are strong swimmers and are able to migrate long distances. Halibut of all ages and sizes are involved in a predominantly clockwise (northwest to southeast) migration from their settlement areas (western part of the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea), and reproductive fish also make regular
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Halibut, along with salmon, provide sustenance for several
Pacific Coast native groups. Many of these groups smoke and dry the halibut for winter use. Sportsmen's effort and interest in catching these fish is increasing each year. In southeast Alaska, halibut are second only to king salmon in
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Halibut gear consists of units of leaded ground line in lengths of 100 fathoms (600 ft; 183 m) referred to as “skates”. Each skate has about 100 hooks attached to it. “Gangens”, or the lines to which the hooks are attached, are either tied to or snapped onto the ground line. A “set”
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Young halibut are highly migratory and generally migrate in a clockwise direction east and south throughout the Gulf of Alaska. Halibut in older age classes tend to be less migratory, but continue to move predominately on a clockwise direction. Mature fish are also involved in winter spawning
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As
Pacific halibut grow longer, they increase in weight, but the relationship between length and weight is not linear. The relationship between total length (L, in inches) and total weight (W, in pounds) for nearly all species of fish can be expressed by an equation of the form:
263:
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Halibut growth rates vary depending on locations and habitat conditions, but females grow faster than males. The oldest recorded female and male were 55 years old. The largest recorded sport-caught halibut was 459 lb (208 kg) near
Unalaska, Alaska, in 1996.
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This relationship predicts a 20-inch (51 cm) Pacific halibut will weigh about 3.0 lb (1.4 kg), a 36-inch (91 cm) halibut will weigh about 20 lb (9.1 kg), and a 58-inch (150 cm) halibut will weigh about 100 lb (45 kg).
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Halibut begin life as larvae in an upright position with an eye on each side of their head. When they are about an inch long, their left eye migrates over their snout to the right side of their heads, and the color of their left side
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in northern
Southeast Alaska. Because of the free-floating nature of larvae and subsequent mixing of juvenile halibut from throughout the Gulf of Alaska, though, only one genetic stock of halibut is known in the North Pacific.
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Sport fishing for halibut in Alaska is a very popular activity; it is a strong fighter and one of the world's largest bony fish with an impressive yield of firm, white flesh. Over 65% of the effort and harvest occurs in
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R. O. Anderson and R. M. Neumann, Length, Weight, and Associated Structural Indices, in Fisheries Techniques, second edition, B.E. Murphy and D.W. Willis, eds., American Fisheries Society, 1996.
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In 2018, the International Pacific Halibut Commission set the catch limit at 2,823 tonnes, of which 2,402 tonnes were for commercial fisheries and 421 tonnes were for recreational fisheries.
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migrations towards deeper waters, migrating across several areas in some instances. Small, localized spawning populations may occur in deep waters such as in
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females attain sexual maturity at 8–12 years. Females lay 0.5 to 4.0 million eggs annually, depending on the size of the fish.
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Schultz, Ken. Ken Scultz’s Essentials of Fishing.John Wiley and & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, 2010.
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seasonal migrations from more shallow feeding grounds in summer to deeper spawning grounds in winter.
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845:"IPHC NEWS RELEASE 2018-05 Revised Pacific Halibut Catch Limits for 2018"
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521: in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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Bethers, Mike. Pacific Halibut. Alaska Department of Fish & Game.
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Halibut weight/length chart (Imperial) published by the IHPC 2003
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area, and near the mouth of Deep Creek in the Lower Cook Inlet.
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The Pacific Halibut: Biology, Fishery and Management
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269:The Pacific halibut is one of the largest flatfish
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237:is native to the North Pacific and is fished by
823:"Homer touting reputation as halibut 'capital'"
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879:Hippoglossus hippoglossus (Atlantic halibut)
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354:remains have been found in their stomachs.
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847:. International Pacific Halibut Commission
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537:Learn how and when to remove this message
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869:International Pacific Halibut Commission
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704:: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
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598:Smoked Pacific halibut on smoker racks
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874:Pacific halibut page at Fishbase.org
821:Mckibben Jackinsky (6 August 2011).
519:adding citations to reliable sources
277:The Pacific halibut is found on the
1160:IUCN Red List least concern species
657:IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
764:IPHC Technical Report No. 40, 1998
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233:. This very large species of
210:Range of the Pacific halibut
749:. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
469:{\displaystyle W=cL^{b}\!\,}
390:Ventral (lower) side of head
374:Dorsal (upper) side of head
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1170:Fish of the Pacific Ocean
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77:Scientific classification
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942:Hippoglossus_stenolepis
928:Hippoglossus stenolepis
898:Hippoglossus stenolepis
584:a 20-lb Pacific halibut
218:Hippoglossus stenolepis
186:Hippoglossus stenolepis
39:Hippoglossus stenolepis
1180:Fish described in 1904
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515:improve this article
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239:commercial fisheries
247:subsistence fishers
47:Conservation status
808:2010-07-14 at the
784:Accessed 5/23/2010
487:Commercial fishing
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282:management areas.
168:H. stenolepis
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1119:Open Tree of Life
890:Taxon identifiers
729:978-0-470-44431-3
629:sustainable yield
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426:Length and weight
279:continental shelf
231:righteye flounder
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134:Pleuronectiformes
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1165:Hippoglossus
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689:. Retrieved
682:the original
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650:Hippoglossus
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513:Please help
508:verification
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285:Halibut are
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253:Distribution
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155:Hippoglossus
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38:
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1067:NatureServe
1015:iNaturalist
922:Wikispecies
782:Read Online
731:, pp. 66-67
350:, and even
1154:Categories
691:2010-12-16
635:References
609:Cook Inlet
358:Life cycle
344:sand lance
1175:Game fish
1059:158625941
582:Filleting
162:Species:
100:Kingdom:
94:Eukaryota
1072:2.103035
1033:10148334
989:FishBase
913:Q1819782
907:Wikidata
851:26 March
829:26 March
806:Archived
700:cite web
287:demersal
235:flatfish
140:Family:
114:Chordata
110:Phylum:
104:Animalia
90:Domain:
67:IUCN 3.1
1007:2409216
348:herring
328:octopus
324:pollock
227:species
225:, is a
150:Genus:
130:Order:
120:Class:
65: (
1137:274290
1124:831503
1111:274290
1085:195615
1046:172932
981:124864
727:
617:Kodiak
615:, the
398:fades.
346:, and
340:salmon
336:shrimp
334:, and
322:, and
320:turbot
245:, and
221:, the
195:, 1904
1132:WoRMS
1028:IRMNG
1020:53701
976:EUNIS
968:3M268
955:60118
685:(PDF)
678:(PDF)
1106:OBIS
1093:NOAA
1080:NCBI
1054:IUCN
1041:ITIS
1002:GBIF
950:BOLD
853:2018
831:2018
725:ISBN
706:link
352:seal
332:crab
310:Food
994:514
963:CoL
937:ADW
611:,
517:by
316:cod
229:of
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978::
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769:^
754:^
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702:}}
698:{{
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534:(
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525:(
511:.
460:b
456:L
452:c
449:=
446:W
69:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
