New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-12-11

A PRIMITIVE HOOK.
Is among the gullies of the continental slope. tho
edges of tho OCEAN bed. Large schooners are fitted
out every year In this city, Boston and Gloucester
for habut fishing entirely though incidentally tPey
may catch few cod on the voyage.
The halibut is decidedly cold water Ash. AS far
north as fish have been caught habnt have been
taken. Eugene G. Blackford told Tribune reporter
that in his long study OF the habits Of fish he knew OF
only two that were taken far south Long Island
Whatever the waters OF the Atlantic contained In Cap
tain John Smiths time no living man OF this genera
ton saw halibut in the waters Of Virginia OF
the present. IIa5ut vessels fit out at Gloucester for
Greenland, one Of their favorite grounds being tho
IIostenborg Banks at the southern entrance Of Davis
Strait. They bring back cargoes partly salted At
Gloucester the fish is itched" that is, cut into long
slabs weighing from five to twenty pounds Is
again placed In pickle and after five six days the
slabs removed and hung UP In smokehouses, the
same with herring haddock.
IIalibut for market purposes caught on Nova
Scotia by vessels fitted out at this port 1t takes them
three or four weeks to make the round trip A trawl
line is used by the fisherman, that IS, line 1000 to
1000 feet long, with hooks twelve to eighteen inches
apart These hooks baited with herring. Ono
end OF the line Is anchored and the other end buoyed
with small kcg The line is lifted every six hours.
Generally 1t Is found that each trawl line will have
hanging to It from to twenty-five habut Weighing
ten TO seventy five pounds each The fish taken
on the smack, eyiscerated and packed IN the Ice
houses aboard
The male halibut rarely exceeds fifty pounds In
weight, but the female will phil down the scales Mt
100 or $50 pounds usually. There Is a tradition Of
hnlbut having been caught of Portland, Me-, that
weighed COO pounds, and New England myth to tho
effect that bold Gloucester scaarer brought in
n halIbut that ten feet long and weighed 100
pounds These two halibut 1t is believed, existed only
In the Imagination II Gloucester bankers. fish that
Will weigh 800 pounds will be between and eight
feet long and nearly four feet wide. "The largest
hallbut ever In Fulton market said Mr. Black
ford, weighed 80 pounds fat female halibut
OF about eighty pounds Is what the marhetmen like,
that Will cut up into choice halbut steaks. People
luxurious In their tastes buy the young fish, the
chicken halibut. Weighing six or seven pounds. All
the large halibut gray the under side and are
called gray halbut, while the best fish is pure white
The hallbut, say the fishermen, who voyage toward
the waters Of ice foes and mountainous Dergs In pursuit
OF II. Is a migratory fish that keeps I'm schools like
porpoIses. In pursuit OF herring the fish often run
into the herring nets OF the Gloucester fishermen.
Iapy are large mouthed, sharpoohed voraclous, wild
and active. They feed on fish OF all kinds crabs and
mOlusks These they waylay lying the bottom
their fat bodies and gray color rendering them almost
ndlstinguishable from the mud OF the ocean. Their
ma nihcent digestion would be the envy OF a dys-
peptc Live Holsters six inches long have been
from their stomachs likewise cubic foot OF wood an
accordion key, pieces Of iron, etc. Like the whale
halbut viii kill its prey with blows OF Its tail. But
he 4" gets move on when a whale or a shark his
deadly enemies, dashcs into school. Hallbut taken
often have sides rrowcd and by the teeth Of
that terror OF the deep, the shark.
Now that tho Unsuitable appetite OF the human
race has thinncd out the schools of lalibut in the
North Atlantic and Is driving what remain 70 tho
deeper beyond the continental slopes. market
men are looking to other waters for their supplies.
lalibut from the Pacific ocean. selling In Fulton
Market, not uncommon these days. As yet they
are abundant in the Pacific north Of the State Of
Washington. on that coast Cape Flattery Is at
present the most prominent fishing point for halibut
and large catches taken there during July and
August. Steam vessels fitted out from Tacoma
and Seattle which make the trip the halibu grounds
and return In three days. Ne steamers pay the
native fisherman cent pound for their catch. The
steamers the fish to Tacoma and Seattle. and
thence they are shipped By rail TO the principal
cities OF The Pacific Coast.
Several carloads OF hallbut have been shipped to
this market from the Pacific" said Mr.. Blackford,
I" but the business has not proved profitable, owing
to the excessive rates OF transportation. 1t u
necessary TO Furry them Tie continent In
frigcrator passenger time. The railroad
charge is equivalent TO cents pound. They get
here when hAibut is most plentiful from our own
coast and the result has been profit and some
loss to Pacific Coast shippers. But there Is doubt
that improved refrigerator cars and more liberal
spirit on the part OF the railroads will permit the
business to be profitable There is q
Boston inventor now mt work a refrigerator car
which, he says, will keep the fish In good condition
for a month enabling them TO make the transcontinen-
tai trip on freight schedule
zone dmwback to Puget Sound halibut fishing is
the lack Of proper boats. The weather out there
5 rough and 1t Is often foggy, and nothing Is done
in winter. Put arrangements are on foot to get Q
drst-cass steam fishing vessel out there, which viii
work In all kinds OF weather. When this iB done
uien the native supply is and the price often
mounts up to 40 cents pound, and reduce the
price to consumers Onc-half.'
one OF the pecularities Of the halbut. as mem.
Der IN good standing OF the hatash family. which
ong caused scientists and biologists to WONDER was
the migratory eye.' When nathsh is born he
each side Of his snout but later oh In life he Is
ound lying on his side while both eyes are on the
same side OF the nose. biologists and fshermen long
argued the question whether the other eye' travelled
around the nose TO the company OF Its mate or
" neither 1t took short cut ANA worked its way
through the Hsh's hend 1t seems finally 10 have
but not to that Of the fishermen, that the migrating
.ye travelled and around the
Tho cut accompanying this article shows perhaps
The ridest specimen OF hshhook in existence. II Is
he picture OF II halibuthook brought down nom
he far northern coast Of Alaska many years ago BY
l.. G. Beardsley OF the United states
has 4. in the interesting collection OF cuosities q
nnrine life In the Biological Museum In Fulton
Market. It consists OF on IRON spike, larger than
MILL ssn two I psSss % wS
Is Il. % sotem. " Of an Rssian family '