Length at Age, Sexual Maturity and Distribution of Atlantic Halibut, Hippoglossus hippoglossus L., off the Northeast USA

Abstract

This paper presents first estimates of length at age, size and age at sexual maturity, and depth distributions of Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus L.) off the Northeast USA. The estimates are based on samples collected from spring and autumn bottom trawl surveys in the Gulf of Maine-Georges Bank region and an experimental longline fishery off the coast of Maine (2000)(2001). Longlines targeted larger, faster growing fish than a bottom trawl indicating gear selectivity. Sexual dimorphism in growth was apparent with females attaining greater sizes after age 4. Median age at maturity was estimated to be 6.0 years for males and 7.3 years for females. Adult halibut (>80 cm) occurred at greater average depths than juveniles (<40 cm), but mean depth of capture differed among seasons for all size-classes of halibut. The results suggest that halibut from the Gulf of Maine-Georges Bank region grow faster than those from the Newfoundland-Labrador region. Median ages at maturity of male and female halibut were lower than in other regions of the Northwest Atlantic; however, lengths at maturity were similar.

Age determination, bomb-radiocarbon validation and growth of Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) from the Northwest Atlantic

“…halibut is thought to vary somewhat among populations in the North Atlantic (McCracken 1958), with all populations exhibiting sexual dimorphism, and females reaching a substantially larger size than males (Devold 1938;McCracken 1958;Bowering 1986;Trumble et al 1993;Sigourney et al 2006). Off the coast of Newfoundland (NAFO divisions 3MNOP), Bowering (1986) reported males growing to 189 cm and females to 229 cm, while halibut from northern Norwegian waters reached lengths of 170 cm in males and >230 cm in females (Devold 1938), and those from the Faroe Islands reached lengths of~180 cm in males and~220 cm in females (Jákupsstovu and Haug 1988).…”

Tagging Results from the 2000-2004 Federal Experimental Fishery for Atlantic Halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) in the Eastern Gulf of Maine

“…It is difficult to determine the sex of live halibut, so this information was not collected for released fish, precluding any sex specific analyses. A distinction was made between immature and mature halibut based on the median length at maturity of 103 cm proposed in Sigourney et al (2006). All tagged fish were less than 103 cm and were therefore considered immature for the purposes of the analyses presented in this paper.…”

“…This project collected valuable biological information including length, weight, age, sex and maturity data, as well as movement data from the tagging component of the study. Some of these data were used in the first estimates of halibut life history parameters for fish found in US waters (Sigourney et al, 2006). This paper focuses on describing the tag return data resulting from the Atlantic halibut federal experimental fishery.…”

Continental shelf residency by adult Atlantic halibut electronic tagged in the Gulf of Maine

“…1; Bigelow and Schroeder 1953;McCracken 1958), and November and December off the Scotian and Newfoundland coasts ( Fig. 1; Neilson et al 1993;Sigourney et al 2006;Armsworthy et al 2014).…”

“…The species is iteroparous and is assumed to spawn annually upon reaching maturity (Neilson et al 1993). Atlantic halibut are generally thought to follow the distribution patterns of their congeners Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis), spending summer months in relatively shallow, near-shore waters to feed and, in the winter, moving into deeper water on the continental slope, where spawning is presumed to occur (Stobo et al 1988;Sigourney et al 2006, Kanwit 2007Armsworthy et al 2014). As group-synchronous batch spawners, Atlantic halibut from several summer feeding areas are thought to gather in large spawning aggregations at discrete deep water locations (Bowering 1986;Haug 1990).…”