About Halibut
Pacific Halibut reside on the continental shelf of the North Pacific. Their range extends from Santa Barbara, California north to Nome, Alaska around the Pacific south to Hokkaido, Japan. In the east Pacific they are more common from the California/Oregon border north.
Pacific Halibut prefer water temperatures between 37 to 47 degrees F. They are bottom dwellers that have been caught a deep as 3600 feet but most are taken during the summer at depths ranging from 100 to 900 feet.
Pacific halibut move seasonally from deep water at the edge of the continental shelf to shallower coastal waters during the summer and then back to deeper water during the winter. The migration corresponds to winter spawning and summer feeding and often covers great distances.
Males mature at 8 years and females at 12 years. The average Pacific halibut caught is 42" long weighing about 30 pounds. The largest Pacific halibut caught on record was over 500 pounds. Mature fish congregate at the edge continental shelf to spawn between November and March at depths from 600 to 15,000 feet.
A 250 pound female may produce 4 million eggs which are fertilized externally. The free floating eggs hatch in about two weeks. The eggs and larvae, heavier than surface water, drift freely in deep ocean currents. They slowly drift to shallower waters on the continental shelf. After about 6 months the larvae settle to the ocean floor and take on the flatfish form.
