Abstract
The catches of Greenland halibut ( Reinhardtius hippoglossoides (Walbaum)) were distributed from Davis Strait to the northern slopes of the Newfoundland Grand Bank with no apparent break in the continuity of the distribution. They were most abundant along the slopes of the continental shelf and in the deep channels around the fishing banks. They were caught in depths less than 200 m to depths greater than 1000 m. However, the preferred depth ranges varied with both latitude and season. For the areas where bottom temperature data were presented, fish were caught in a range of 0.0–6.0°C with a preference for warmer water (5.1–6.0°C) in northern Labrador during summer compared with colder water (< 0.0°C) during autumn in southern Labrador. For all areas examined larger and older fish predominated in the deeper waters and also increased in abundance moving progressively from south to north. An examination of age compositions from the commercial fishery which exists mostly in the more southerly area (Div. 2J, 3K and 3L) shows that it exploits a few younger age groups (6–9-year-olds in particular) while older fish ( > 10 years old) are hardly exploited at all.
Published Version
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