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Seafood Watch - Seafood Guide

Halibut, Pacific

© Scandinavian Fishing Yearbook/www.scandfish.com
SEAFOODRATINGMARKET NAMESWHERE CAUGHTHOW CAUGHT
Atlantic Halibut Avoid: Avoid these products for now. These fish come from sources that are overfished or fished or farmed in ways that harm the environment. Hirame U.S. Atlantic Wild-caught
California Halibut Good Alternative: These are good alternatives to the best choices column. There are some concerns with how they are fished or farmed – or with the health of their habitats due to other human impacts. Monterey Halibut, Chicken Halibut, Southern Halibut U.S. Pacific Hook-and-line, Bottom Trawl
California Halibut Avoid: Avoid these products for now. These fish come from sources that are overfished or fished or farmed in ways that harm the environment. Monterey Halibut, Chicken Halibut, Southern Halibut U.S. Pacific Set Gillnet
Greenland Halibut Good Alternative: These are good alternatives to the best choices column. There are some concerns with how they are fished or farmed – or with the health of their habitats due to other human impacts. Greenland Turbot U.S. Pacific Wild-caught
Pacific Halibut Best Choice: These fish are abundant, well managed and fished or farmed in environmentally friendly ways. Alaskan Halibut U.S., Canadian Pacific Wild-caught


Pacific Halibut

Most Pacific halibut is caught with bottom longlines that cause little habitat damage and have low levels of accidental catch.

The Pacific halibut fisheries of Alaska, Washington and Oregon are certified as sustainable to the standard of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

Summary

Pacific halibut is a bottom-dwelling groundfish that nestles into the sandy seafloor, often seen with only its eyes and mouth uncovered. Primarily found in the coastal North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, it migrates hundreds of miles from shallow coastal waters to the deep, open ocean to spawn in winter. Most return, year after year, to the same coastal feeding grounds.

Most Pacific halibut is caught either in Alaska or off the west coast of Canada. In Alaska, fishing for Pacific halibut is strictly limited to the bottom longlining method, which causes little habitat damage or bycatch. Pacific halibut is also caught using troll lines and bottom trawl nets.

The International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC), composed of U.S. and Canadian scientists, manages Pacific halibut in Alaska and Canada. Each year, the IPHC conducts a population assessment and reviews independent assessments to set annual catch limits. These limits are allocated among licensed fishing vessels, giving each boat a prescribed percentage of the total. In the U.S. and Canada, this process has resulted in longer fishing seasons, while keeping the population healthy and abundant. As a result, we recommend Pacific halibut as a "Best Choice."


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