Halibut

“ The Gully is a very important halibut ground. The halibut are not found in great numbers all over the ground, perhaps the best of the fishing being on the rocky and gravelly ridges and slopes included between the meridians of 69° and 80° west longitude. This rocky bottom is rich in food, and the lant and herring are usually plentiful here in their season. In the spring the halibut seem to be especially numerous in the northern and northwestern parts of the bank, later, in June and July, moving farther out. Some, are found here in winter. ”

“ In its fresh state the halibut is not very delicate, and is hard and difficult of digestion; however, its great size renders it a valuable prize. We may add that, notwithstanding its great size, the halibut has deadly enemies in the dolphins, as well as in the birds which prey upon fishes on the shore. It is itself a voracious fish, devouring crabs, cod-fish, and even the Raiadæ, not even sparing its own species; they attack each other, nibbling at the tail or fins. ”

“ When the halibut are most active and abundant, the Koloshians take them in large quantities, fishing with a hook and line from their canoes, which are anchored over the favored spots by stones attached to cedar-bark ropes or cables. They still employ their own primitive, clumsy-looking hook in decided preference to using our own make. When the canoe is loaded to the gunwale by an alert fisherman, these halibut are brought in to some convenient adjacent point on the shore, where they are handed over to the women, who are there to take care of them, usually living in a temporary rancherie. ”

“ The most of the halibut are cured by smoking. The annual product, larger in former years than now, averages about 1,600,000 pounds, with a value of about $160,000. The Canadian catch of halibut in 1893 amounted to 215,000 pounds, with a value of $59,800. Two other species of considerable size are found in the American markets: the Greenland halibut, found in the Antic parts of the Atlantic but not very common, and the Monterey halibut, common along the coast of California. In European waters the sole (Solea vulgaris) is the common flatfish taken for the markets.
Lesser Fisheries. ”

“ HALIBUT, or Holibut (Hippoglossus vulgaris) , the largest of all flat-fishes, growing to a length of 10 ft. or more, specimens of 5 ft. in length and of 100 ℔ in weight being frequently exposed for sale in the markets. Indeed, specimens under 2 ft. in length are very rarely caught, and singularly enough, no instance is known of a very young specimen having been obtained. Small ones are commonly called “chicken halibut.” The halibut is much more frequent in the higher latitudes of the temperate zone than in its southern portion ”

“ But the favorite food of the halibut, for instance, is sting-ray, and consequently it is a good friend of the oysterman; where there is plenty of halibut, there will be few sting-rays, and these last are destructive to a good oyster-bed."
"It seems to me," said Colin, "that the whole story of the seas is that fish eat fish, while the few that escape from their own kind are gobbled up by seagulls and terns and other birds."
"Yet," said the other, smiling, "the birds [Pg 367] don't have it all their own way. Sometimes the fish gobble them!"
"Can they eat birds?" ”

“ In March, herring appear on the coast in great numbers, and in April and May they enter the inlets and streams, where they are taken with a dip-net, or more commonly by the fish-rake—a pole armed with many sharp bones or nails. Early in the season they can be taken only by torch-light. Halibut abound from March to June, and are caught with hooks and long lines, generally at some distance from shore. For all other fish, European hooks were early adopted, but the halibut, at least among the Ahts, must still be taken with the native hook. ”

“ It is one of the largest of food fish. The fish weighing about 80 pounds are considered the best for food, although the halibut sometimes reaches a weight of over 500 pounds. The male is always smaller than the female and less palatable. The annual value of the halibut fisheries on the North Atlantic coast is probably 3⁄4 million dollars. It is probably slightly more than this on the Pacific coast,—in fact the Pacific coast fisheries have grown so extensively that halibut is shipped eastward across the continent. ”

“ The abundance of halibut, cod, and salmon at their very doors, as it were, is quite sufficient to satisfy the demands of nature, and it is only when tempted by the white man’s gold that the aborigines will leave the coast to go inland in search of pelts and meat, in the form of venison, goat, or bear flesh. ”

“ This method of hunting is now unusual.
It is not only the larger animals that expose the Eskimo to danger. Even in ordinary fishing—for example, for halibut—disasters may happen. If one has not taken care to keep the line clear, and it gets fouled in one place or another, while the strong fish is making a sudden dash for the bottom, the crank [77] kaiak is easily enough capsized. Many have met their end in this way.
HALIBUT-FISHING
But we must not dwell too long on the shady sides of life. ”

“ The natives capture “poltoos” or halibut, Hippoglossus vulgaris, within two or three miles of the reef-point on St. Paul and the south shore during July and August. After this season the weather is usually so stormy and cold that fishermen venture no more until the ensuing summer. ”

“ Fannin. "A number of the Indians along the coast select the most slender stems, knot them together, and make fishing lines for the deep-sea fishing, on which they catch halibut sometimes weighing two hundred pounds. These stems are tremendously tough, and they almost never wear out. A man may coil up one of these long lines and hang it in his house for six months, and then, if he takes it down and soaks it in water over night, in the morning it will be pliable and perfectly fit to use." ”

“ At high tide it is navigable through connecting waters for small vessels entirely across the island, here about thirty miles, varying from one to five miles in width. Its shores are generally gradually sloping, with long stretches of sandy beach, bordered by a thick forest which, covering the mountains, rising from 800 to 3,500 feet, within from five to ten miles, bounds the horizon on every hand. Here are convenient halibut banks, salmon and trout streams. ”

“ It has apparently been beyond man's power either to reduce to vanishing point or greatly to increase the yield of the open sea. The larger forms of such species as the Halibut, for instance, may be thinned by constant attacks, but the race continues as before with a resilience and pertinacity none the less sure that they are often doubted and may be denied. ”

“ Besides the halibut bank marked on the chart, there is one near all of the villages mentioned, and inexhaustible quantities of clams and mussels along the neighboring shores. This is certainly one of the most favored regions in the world for the abode of the Indian. From the number and size of their houses now occupied, and ruins, from fifty to seventy in each village, their burial Ghans and houses filled with the dead, these islands most have contained at least ten times their present population. Smallpox and the corruption of their women have been the principal causes of their destruction. ”

“ These people are very expert in striking fish, both in the sea, and in rivers. They also make use of hooks and lines, nets and wears. The hooks are composed of bone, and the lines of sinews.
The fishes which are common to other northern seas, are found here; such as whales, grampusses, porpoises, swordfish, halibut, cod, salmon, trout, seals, flat-fish; several other sorts of small fish; and there may be many more that we had no opportunity of seeing. Halibut and salmon seem to be in the greatest plenty, and on them the inhabitants of these isles subsist chiefly ”

“ On inquiry we learn that they are native Indians of the Haida tribe, who come down from the north to work through a part of the season as lumbermen, at liberal wages. They are accustomed to perilous voyages while seeking the whale and fishing for halibut in deep waters, commanding good wages, as being equal to any white laborers obtainable. ”

“ The presence of such great numbers of amphibian mammalia about the waters during five or six months of every year renders all fishing abortive, and unless expeditions are made seven or eight miles at least from the land, unless you desire to catch large halibut, it is a waste of time to cast your line over the gunwale of the boat. ”

“ Awaiting his appearance stood the spearman, and when the canoe was sufficiently near, in he sent the spear, plucking the long haft or handle from the shorter barbed spear, which remained in the fish, the bladder, floating like a148 life-buoy, marking the fish’s whereabouts. The halibut, finding his reception anything but agreeable, tries to descend again into the lower regions, a performance now difficult to accomplish, as the bladder is a serious obstacle. ”

“ Soles vary in size from quite little slips, called "tongues," to large fish weighing eight or nine pounds per pair. Those in roe are rather « 10 » insipid in flavour, and are best for filleting. They vary in price, but are never a cheap fish.
Halibut is an excellent substitute for turbot, which it rather resembles in flavour, and is a comparatively cheap fish. It is abundant in spring and summertime, and always a favourite with Jewish people. Being a very large fish, it is rarely sold entire. ”

“ At the present time the Halibut (Hippoglossus) is seldom caught near the shore or in shoal water. It is taken by the Gloucester fishermen along the outer banks, in depths of a hundred to two hundred fathoms. The New England Turbot (Lophopsetta) of our coasts is a different fish, and rarely ventures to the north of Cape Cod. The fishermen frequently sell our turbot as chicken-halibut.
[417] The Flounder (Pseudopleuronectes) , whereof there are several species.
[418] Hake (Phycis) are still somewhat common.
[419] Morton probably means the Menhaden (Brevoortia) . ”

“ Along the North Shore and from Yarmouth to Cape Sable, over a hard bottom, cod abound. The western shore of Nova Scotia is virtually all fishing ground for cod, haddock, hake, and cusk, but trawling is somewhat handicapped here by strong tides and rocky bottom, these combining to destroy much gear. Halibut are somewhat unusual on this western shore except about the mouth of the Bay of Fundy, but in summer these fish are occasionally found close inshore along the southwest coast, going somewhat beyond Digby to the northward. ”

“ As a matter of fact, the waters of British Columbia are alive with halibut, cod, flounders, anchovies, whales, sardines, shad, oysters, clams, crabs, seals, prawns, and other useful creatures that are more or less neglected by a sparse and preoccupied human population. One of the few fish that happens to receive careful, not to say minute, attention in British Columbia is the sturgeon. ”

“ Although no new discoveries, strictly speaking, are recorded, the work will not be found altogether destitute of useful nautical information; the account of the reef to the southwest of Halibut Island, upon which the ship was wrecked, and the numerous rocks that lie near the coast of Aliaski, will show what ought to be avoided; and in the account of the south coast of Wahoo, will be found a description of the only harbours in the Sandwich Islands.
From the humble situation held by the author, a distrust may be entertained of his qualifications to relate the facts which fell under his notice ”

“ Here is a level, sandy bottom, where, during May, June, July, and August, the otter trawlers operate successfully in 18 to 30 fathoms of water, making a catch that consists principally of haddock, with a considerable proportion of cod, especially in June and July, and with a fair amount also of pollock, cusk, and hake. Small halibut are fairly abundant here, also, these fish being of from 5 to R pounds, rarely larger. Flounders are abundant, with a good number of "lemon soles" and "gray soles," which are very popular with the trade. ”

“ There is said to be a shoal of 14 fathoms on the northern edge and another of 22 fathoms near the center. These are both broken and rocky, but the main part of the ground, having depths of 30 to 45 fathoms, is mostly composed of sand. is quite level, and slopes gradually toward the edge. It is a good ground for cod and haddock in winter and for cod in the spring. A few pollock are taken here, also. Halibut are found on the shoals in July. On these, also, are good lobster grounds. It is chiefly a small-boat and vessel ground, fishing being done by hand lines and trawls, with some gill netting. ”

“ He never stores up much food against the morrow—the sea and its piscine booty is too near at hand. Whatever he may keep over he does not have in a cellar, but hangs it up outside of his door on an elevated trestle which he calls a “laabas,” beyond the reach of the village dogs, while there is no thought of theft from the hands of his neighbors. He lives chiefly upon fresh fish—cod, halibut, salmon and other varieties, which he secures the year round as they rotate in the sea and streams. ”

“ Long ago, before the days of the factories, many ships sailed away from New England ports after whales in the Arctic waters. Now-a-days whale-bone is still valuable, but the oil is not needed so much as in the old times before gas and electricity came into use, so that whaling is not so common. But many men are still busy fishing for herring, halibut and cod, which are plentiful in the waters along the northeast coast and off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. ”