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Halibut

It is a type of flatfish. Fishes bearing the name halibut live in both the North Pacific and the North Atlantic Oceans, and are highly regarded food fish. The Pacific halibut, Hippoglossus stenolepis, has been known to attain a weight of over 500 pounds and can be eight feet or greater in length; a very large halibut is known as a "barn door". Females grow much larger than males with males only rarely reaching 100 pounds. Like the flounders, adult halibut typically have both eyes on the right side of the head. Halibut have speckled or brown top (right) sides and creamy white under (left) sides, and can be distinguished from other flatfish by the tail.

Halibut feed on almost any animal they can fit in their mouths: animals found in their stomachs include sand lance, octopus, crab, salmon, hermit crabs, lamprey, sculpin, cod, pollock and flounder. Halibut can be found at depths as shallow as a few metres to hundreds of metres deep, and although they spend most of their time near the bottom, halibut will 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 the only common predators on halibut are the sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus), the orca whale (Orcinus orca), and the salmon shark (Lamna ditropis).

• Halibut fillets
• Baked Stuffed Halibut
• Grilled Halibut with Pesto

Careful international management of Pacific halibut is necessary, as the species occupies the waters of the United States, Canada, Russia, and possibly Japan, and is a slow-maturing fish. Halibut do not reproduce until age eight, when they are approximately 30 inches long, so commercial capture of fish below this length is an unsustainable practice and is against U.S. and Canadian regulations. The halibut fishery in the Pacific is managed by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC).

The commercial halibut fishery in the North Pacific dates to the late 19th century and today is one the largest and most lucrative fisheries in the region. In Canadian and U.S. waters of the North Pacific, are taken by longline, using chunks of octopus ("devilfish") or other bait on circle hooks attached at regular intervals to a weighted line which can extend for several miles across the bottom. Typically the fishing vessel hauls gear after several hours to a day has passed.

For most of its modern duration the commercial halibut fishery operated as a derby-style fishery where regulators declared time slots when the fishery was open and fisherman raced to catch as many pounds as they could. 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 in advance and fisherman compelled economically to leave port virtually regardless of the weather. The approach also provided fresh halibut to the markets for only several weeks each year.

There is also a significant sport fishery in Alaska and British Columbia where halibut are a prized game and food fish. Sport fisherman use large rods and reels with line weights from 80 to 150 pound test. Halibut are very strong, thus in both commercial and sport fisheries large halibut (over 50 to 100 pounds ) are often shot or otherwise subdued before they are brought onto the boat. The sport fishery in Alaska is one of the key elements to the state's summer tourism economy.
Halibut have been an important food source to Native Americans and Native Canadians for thousands of years and continue to be a key element to many coastal subsitence economies.
They are very good to eat.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Halibut".

Additional information:

a.k.a.: Atlantic, Pacific, Greenland, California, and black halibut. "Chicken halibut" denotes a young, small variety of this fish.
Waters:Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

Description (in water): Of the flounder family and the largest of all flatfish, halibut are gray with some white mottling. Most weigh between 50 and 100 lbs., but Atlantic halibut can exceed half a ton. Young chicken halabut are much smaller (2 to 10 lbs.)

Description (in market): Tender chicken halibut is considered best for eating. Atlantic and Pacific halibut are also good, with extremely lean, firm, tight-grained white meat. They are delicately flavorful, albeit a bit dry.
Greenland, California, and black halibut are considered less desirable, culinarily speaking.

Sold as: Steaks (skin on) are most common; smaller specimens can be available as halbut fillets or fresh and whole (headless and dressed). Halibut cheeks, sold in gourmet shops, are considered a delicacy.

Best cooking: A firm, fine-textured fish, halibut poaches, grills, broils, braises, and steams particularly well. It is also good roasted or sautéed. The edible skin need not be removed; in fact, leaving the skin on helps steaks keep their shape while cooking.

Buying tips: Steaks should be sweet-smelling, with glistening pure white flesh that's free of browning, gaping, and signs of dryness.

Substitutes: Cod, haddock, turbot, dogfish, flatfish

Notes: The Atlantic halibut population has dropped in recent years, resulting in a higher price tag for this popular fish.