Seasonal selection: Wild Halibut
Halibut facts
- Halibut is the largest of all flatfish, measuring up to eight feet in length, four feet wide, and over 600 pounds in weight. General market size ranges between 10 to 200 pounds.
- Halibut prefer deep, cold water, and have a life span of 40 years or more.
- The word halibut is derived from the Scandinavian word, halliflundra, meaning “a fish that can be found in deep holes.” Halibut can be found as deep as 3600 feet. Most anglers fish for them in 40 to 400 feet of water.
- Halibut was considered a sacred fish throughout history and was oftentimes served on holidays, especially during medieval days in Europe. The English derivation for its name reflects this sacredness since “hali” signifies holy, and “but” signifies flat.
- The oldest recorded age for a female halibut is 42 years, and the oldest male is 55 years.
- Halibut are normally dextral (“right handed”) with both eyes on the right side. Only an estimated one in 20,000 Pacific halibut are sinistral (“left-handed”).
- A 250 pound female halibut can produce up to four million eggs.
- Halibut can migrate great distances. The longest recorded migration was for a fish tagged near Atka in the Aleutian Islands. It was captured at Coos Bay, Oregon, a distance of 2500 miles.
- Halibut is harvested along the Pacific coast from Northern California to Alaska and westward to Russia and northern Japan.
- Commercial fisherman use hook-and-line gear anchored on the bottom of the ocean to catch halibut.
Availability: Harvest Season - March to October
World Supply: United States, Canada, Russia
