38 



TJ. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



jumping in unison has not been observed with the striped mullet, 

 and only one or two individuals of a large school appear to leave 

 the water at the same time. 



Although the silver mullet is abundant, the catch landed in Key 

 West is small and the greater part of it is dry salted and shipped 

 to Cuba. 



KINGFISH FISHERY. 



Kingfish (Scomberomorus cavalla and S. regalis) are caught in 

 southern Florida from early November until late March. The season 

 usually covers the same period as that of the Spanish mackerel, but 

 the fishing is somewhat more uncertain. In some years very few 

 kingfish are caught before December 1, but it is the custom of the 

 fishermen to commence operations about November 10. The catch 

 of kingfish in Florida for the season 1917-18 is given in the report 

 of the Commissioner of Fisheries for 1919, Appendix X, as follows : 



Table 3. — Catch of kingfish in Florida for the season 1917-18. 



The total catch for both coasts was 2.737,652 pounds. The entire 

 catch of Monroe County was landed at Key West, Monroe County 

 includes a portion of the extreme southwestern part of Florida and 

 the Florida keys, which extend southwestward from the mainland 

 forming the line dividing the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. 

 The major part of the fishing is done on the Atlantic side of the 

 keys. The kingfish, therefore, are found in greatest abundance from 

 Palm Beach County to Key West. 



In this country the kingfish fishery is confined almost entirely to 

 Florida, the only other State where it may be considered as of im- 

 portance being North Carolina, which reports a catch of 211,781 

 pounds for the season of 1918. Off the Carolina coast kingfish are 

 caught from May until October or during the months when they are 

 not found in Florida. 



Table 4. — Catch of kingfish, by months, taken along the Florida keys and 

 landed at Key West during the seasons from 1918 to 1920. 



