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Pacific halibut

 
Pacific Halibut

 
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Pacific halibut
 
 
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The Pacific halibut, Hippoglossus stenolepis, is a large flatfish
Flatfish

The flatfish are an order of ray-finned fish, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. The name means "side-swimmers" in Greek language....
 found in the northern Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
 closely related to the Atlantic Halibut
Halibut

A halibut is a type of flatfish from the family of the right-eye flounders . This name is derived from haly and butt , alleged to be called so from being commonly eaten on holy-days....
. Its range is from the Bering Sea
Bering Sea

The Bering Sea is a body of water in the Pacific Ocean that comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelf....
, the Aleutian Islands
Aleutian Islands

The Aleutian Islands are a chain of more than 300 small volcanic islands forming a volcanic arc in the Northern Pacific Ocean, occupying an area of 6,821 sq mi and extending about 1,200 mi westward from the Alaska Peninsula toward the Kamchatka Peninsula....
 and Hokkaido
Hokkaido

, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island and the largest, northernmost of its 47 prefectures of Japan....
, Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
 to Baja California
Baja California

Baja California is the northernmost States of Mexico of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North Territory of Baja California....
, Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
. The largest reported specimen was 267 cm and they can reach an age of 42 years. They can be found on a range of bottoms. The young individuals are usually found close to the shore, whereas the older individuals prefer deeper water, especially in the winter.






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The Pacific halibut, Hippoglossus stenolepis, is a large flatfish
Flatfish

The flatfish are an order of ray-finned fish, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. The name means "side-swimmers" in Greek language....
 found in the northern Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
 closely related to the Atlantic Halibut
Halibut

A halibut is a type of flatfish from the family of the right-eye flounders . This name is derived from haly and butt , alleged to be called so from being commonly eaten on holy-days....
. Its range is from the Bering Sea
Bering Sea

The Bering Sea is a body of water in the Pacific Ocean that comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelf....
, the Aleutian Islands
Aleutian Islands

The Aleutian Islands are a chain of more than 300 small volcanic islands forming a volcanic arc in the Northern Pacific Ocean, occupying an area of 6,821 sq mi and extending about 1,200 mi westward from the Alaska Peninsula toward the Kamchatka Peninsula....
 and Hokkaido
Hokkaido

, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island and the largest, northernmost of its 47 prefectures of Japan....
, Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
 to Baja California
Baja California

Baja California is the northernmost States of Mexico of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North Territory of Baja California....
, Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
. The largest reported specimen was 267 cm and they can reach an age of 42 years. They can be found on a range of bottoms. The young individuals are usually found close to the shore, whereas the older individuals prefer deeper water, especially in the winter. It is a voracious predator and feeds on fish
Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
, squid
Squid

Squid are marine cephalopods of the order Teuthida, which comprises around 300 species. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, Symmetry #Bilateral_symmetry, a mantle , and cephalopod arms....
, crab
Crab

Crabs are Decapoda crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax....
s, clam
Clam

Clam is a word which can be used for all, some, or only a few species of bivalve mollusks; the word is a common name which has no real Taxonomy significance in biology....
s and other invertebrate
Invertebrate

An invertebrate is an animal lacking a vertebral column. The group includes 98% of all animal species ? all animals except those in the Chordate subphylum vertebrate ....
s. It is treasured by fishermen because of its great size and tasty white meat.

Directed commercial fisheries usually use longline
Long-line fishing

Longline fishing is a commercial fishing technique. It uses a long line, called the main line, with Fish bait Fish hook attached at intervals by means of branch lines called "snoods"....
 gear but halibut are also caught along with many other bottom-dwelling fish by commercial trawlers. Longline fishers in the U.S. and Canada are required to use circle hook
Circle hook

A circle hook is a type of fish hook which is sharply curved back in a circular shape. It has become widely popular among anglers in recent years because it hooks fish at a much higher percentage and rarely is swallowed by a fish and thus greatly decreases the death rates of released fish....
s. Pacific Halibut are also an important sport fish in Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska. Within Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 and the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, Halibut quotas are set annually by the International Pacific Halibut Commission
International Pacific Halibut Commission

The International Pacific Halibut Commission is a public international organization, having Canada and the United States of America as its members, responsible for the management of stocks of Hippoglossus stenolepis within the Pacific waters of its member states....
. Washington, British Columbian, and Alaskan native groups also have important halibut fisheries.

See the article on halibut
Halibut

A halibut is a type of flatfish from the family of the right-eye flounders . This name is derived from haly and butt , alleged to be called so from being commonly eaten on holy-days....
 for more details.

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