ix. 



THE MULLET FISHERY. 



BY E. EDWABD EAELL. 



1. DISTRIBUTION AND HABITS OF THE MULLET. 



In Section I of this report may be found a discussion of the natural history of our east coast 

 mullets, Jhtgil albuln and M. Irasilietms. In the above-mentioned article much valuable informa- 

 tion is given regarding the mullet fisheries from notes taken by Professor G. Brown Goode during 

 a vist to Florida, and the statements of other observers from different portions of the coast are 

 added, so that all localities where mullet occur are fairly represented. The main object of the 

 article, however, is to put on record what is known of the distribution and habits of the species, 

 and much material on the mullet fisheries was omitted as irrelevant. Having visited the various 

 localities along the Atlantic coast where mullet are extensively taken, I have been requested 

 to prepare an account of the mullet fisheries, and in doing so find it necessary to repeat much 

 that has been already said in the article referred to in order that the account of the fisheries 

 may be complete. I am under obligations to Professor Goode for many of his original notes on 

 the fisheries and for placing in my hands the replies to the circular of inquiry regarding the habits 

 of the mullet sent out by Professor Baird in 1875. I would also express my thanks to Mr. Silas 

 Stearns, of Pensacola, Fla., to whom I am indebted for all facts of whatever kind bearing on the 

 mullet fisheries of the Gulf of Mexico. 



On the coast of the United States one or both species of mullet are found in all localities 

 between Cape Cod and Texas, but in most places the fishermen fail to recognize the difference 

 between them, calling them simply mullet, and supposing the two kinds to be identical. In de- 

 scribing the fishery, then, no attempt will be made to separate the species, for their habits are quite 

 similar, and, where both occur, they are taken by the same apparatus and in a similar manner. 

 The Muglt albula is much the larger and more important of the two, and the statements may be 

 considered as referring chiefly to this species. 



In the district north of Sandy Hook, N. J., large individuals arc ran-, but small ones are quite 

 abundant at certain seasons. According to Professor Goode, great numbers of mullet about an 

 inch in length have been observed along the Connecticut shores, where they are known to the 

 fishermen as "bluefish mummichogs.'' 



Along the New Jersey coast they are more plentiful and of larger size. The majority of them 

 measure from 5 to G inches in length, but late in the fall larger individuals, weighing about a 

 pound, make their appearance. These are called "bull-mullet," and are highly prized for food. 

 Along the ocean shores of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, and in the lower waters of Chesa- 

 peake Bay, individuals of similar size are quite abundant. 



At Oregon Inlet, in North Carolina, there is a perceptible increase both in the number and 



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