Halibut

Halibut is a flatfish of the genus Hippoglossus from the family of the right-eye flounders Pleuronectidae . Various other flatfish are also commonly called halibut. The name is derived from haly holy and butt flat fish , for its alleged popularity on Catholic holy-days. 1 Halibut live in both the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans and are highly regarded food fish.

The halibut is the largest flat fish, averaging 11 13.5 kilograms 24 30 lb , but catch as large as 333 160 kilograms 734 160 lb have been reported the largest recently recorded 2 was 211 160 kilograms 470 lb and 2.5 160 metres 8.2 ft long. 3 4 They are gray-black on the top side with an off-white underbelly. At birth they have an eye on each side of the head, and swim like a salmon. After about 6 months one eye migrates to the other side, making them look more like other flounder. At the same time the stationary-eyed side darkens to match the top side, while the other side remains white. This color scheme disguises halibut from above blending with the ocean floor and from below blending into the light from the sky and is known as countershading.

Halibut feed on almost any animal they can fit into their mouths. Animals found in their stomachs include sand lance, octopus, crab, salmon, hermit crabs, lamprey, sculpin, cod, pollock, herring, flounder as well as other halibut. Halibut live at depths ranging from a few meters to hundreds of meters, and although they spend most of their time near the bottom, halibut may move up in the water column to feed. In most ecosystems the halibut is near the top of the marine food chain. In the North Pacific their only common predators are the sea lion Eumetopias jubatus , the orca Orcinus orca , and the salmon shark Lamna ditropis .

The North Pacific commercial halibut fishery dates to the late 19th century and today is one of the region's largest and most lucrative. In Canadian and U.S. waters, longline predominates, using chunks of octopus "devilfish" or other bait on circle hooks attached at regular intervals to a weighted line that can extend for several miles across the bottom. Typically the fishing vessel retrieves the line after several hours to a day.

Careful international management is necessary, because the species occupies waters of the United States, Canada, Russia, and possibly Japan where the species is known to the Japanese as Ohyo , and matures slowly. Halibut do not reproduce until age eight, when they are approximately 30 160 inches 76 160 cm long, so commercial capture below this length prevents breeding and is against U.S. and Canadian regulations that ensure sustainability. Pacific halibut fishing is managed by the International Pacific Halibut Commission IPHC .

For most of the modern era, halibut fishery operated as a derby. Regulators declared time slots when fishing was open typically 24 48 hours at a time and fisherman raced to catch as many pounds as they could within that interval. This approach accommodated unlimited participation in the fishery while allowing regulators to control the quantity of fish caught annually by controlling the number and timing of openings. The approach frequently led to unsafe fishing as openings were necessarily set before the weather was known, forcing fisherman to leave port regardless of the weather. The approach also provided fresh halibut to the markets for only several weeks each year, when the gluts would push down the price received by fishermen.