Six fishermen reel in 244-pound Atlantic halibut in Quebec

It was minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit and a wind cut across the ice as six men took turns wrangling a line on the frozen Saguenay River. They had cut through the surface on Jan. 31 more than 100 miles north of the City of Quebec to take part in a scientific project studying Atlantic halibut migration.

After more than two hours they hauled up what researchers later confirmed was the largest halibut landed along the Saguenay. The fish measured about two meters long and weighed 244 pounds. "When it bit, we knew it was probably a halibut, but we didn’t know how big it was," said Alain Hamel, the fisherman who hooked it.

The previous record along the river was a 194-pound halibut caught last year. Researchers have been studying the halibut in the region since the winter of 2022 to assess the population’s health and its ecosystem. They tagged and cut the fish to learn about migration patterns, population trends and food sources.