MULLET IN EASTERN FLORIDA. 451 



November to the middle of January, and the weight of evidence tends to show that they spawn in 

 brackish or salt water. Some of the fishermen say that they go on the mud-flats and oyster-beds 

 at the mouth of the river to deposit tlieir eggs. What becomes of them after this no one seems to 

 know, but it is probable that they spread themselves throughout all the adjacent rivers, bays, 

 and sounds, in such a manner as not to be perceptible to the fishermen, who make no effort at this 

 time to secure the spent, lean fish. Many of them probably find their way to the lakes, and others 

 remain wherever they find good feeding ground, gathering flesh and recruiting strength for the 

 groat strain of the next spawning season. There is no evidence of any northern or southern coast- 

 wise migration, the habits of the species apparently being very local. 



The fisherman recognizes three distinct periods of schooling or separate runs of Mullet. To 

 what extent these are founded on tradition, or upon the necessity of change in the size of the mesh 

 of their nets, it is impossible to say. The "June Mullet" average about five to the pound; the 

 " Fat Mullet," which are taken from August 20 to October 1, weigh about two pounds; these have, 

 the fishermen say, a "roe of fat" on each side as thick as a man's thumb. The "Roe Mullet" 

 weigh about two and a half pounds, and are caught in November and until Christmas. Between 

 the seasons of " Fat Mullet " and " Roe Mullet" there is an intermission of two or three weeks in the 

 fishing. How to interpret these curious statements is surely a difficult problem, and one which 

 can be solved only by careful study of the fishes themselves at these seasons. The fishermen insist 

 that these schools come successively down the river and proceed directly out to sea. They will not 

 believe that the "Fat Mullet" and the "Roe Mullet" are the same schools under different circum- 

 stances. I would hazard the suggestion that the " Fat Mullet" of September are the breeding fish 

 of November, with roes in an immature state, the ova not having become fully differentiated. 



The largest fish appear rarely to exceed six pounds. This is exceptional, however. Mr. W. 

 H. Tate, of Melton & Co., Jacksonville, tells me that he never saw one exceeding seven pounds, 

 though he had heard of one weighing fourteen. He showed me on the floor of the fish-market a 

 line indicating the length of a very large one; this measured twenty-nine inches. At Mayport 

 none had been seen exceeding six pounds in weight. At the mouth of the Saint John's cast-nets 

 of ten feet in diameter are used, but most Mullet -are taken in gill-nets, which are swept around 

 the school, the fish being easily visible at the surface.' These nets are from seventy to ninety 

 fathoms long and forty meshes deep. The size of the mesh varies with the season. Very few are 

 used from December to July, but where they are used the mesh two and one-half to two and 

 three-quarters inches is preferred; from August 1 to October 1, for "Fat Mullet," the mesh is three 

 and one-half to three and three-quarters inches, and in late October, November, and December, for 

 "Roe Mullet," four inches at least so said my informant, an intelligent negro fisherman. At 

 Mayport there are two sweep-seines, seventy-five fathoms long and thirty feet deep, belonging to 

 Kemp, Mead & Smith, used in the mullet fishery. 



There is a large trade in fresh Mullet iced, of the extent of which 1 could gain but little idea: 

 they are shipped chiefly to Central Florida and Georgia. Some have been sent in ice to Atlanta. 

 About twenty thousand are shipped from Yellow Bluffs, by way of Jacksonville. 



It is the general opinion of the fishermen that the Mullet have greatly diminished in abundance 

 of late years, and that they are not one-third as plenty as they were ten years ago. This falling oft' 

 is attributed to the presence of steamers, to the chances of the seasons, and, most of all, to the use 

 of small-meshed seines, which catch the young fish in great numbers, and to the constant fishing by 

 numerous nets, which destroys a large proportion of the mother-fish from year to year. Mr. Isaac 



1 "Roe Mullet" are often taken in a drift Rill-net. When the net is being set it is customary to drum with the 

 oars on the gunwale of the boat to make the fish "gill" better. 



