crab pots, $64,887. In table 3 are shown the 

 complete 1959-62 landings in pound and dollar 

 value by gear, by year, by subarea, with 

 4-year averages. 



Of the numerous species entering the fish- 

 eries, eight dominate the landings. These are 

 shrimp, black mullet, spotted sea trout, red 

 snapper, blue crab, spot, pompano, and king 

 whiting--together representing a 4-year aver- 

 age of 91 percent of the annual poundage and 

 94 percent of the dollar value. In table 4 are 

 given the landings of these eight dominant 

 species, all other species combined, and 4-year 

 average pound and dollar values by month, 

 1959-62. 



The commercial fisheries can be divided 

 into three major geographic subdivisions: 



(1) Those prosecuted in the inside waters- - 

 principally in the Indian and Banana Rivers 

 but to a lesser degree in Halifax River, 



(2) those carried out in the Atlantic Ocean 

 within a few miles of the coast, and (3) those 

 which are worked from about 1 to 50 fathoms 

 off the coast. These three geographic sub- 

 divisions and the dominant species taken 

 therein will be discussed separately. 



INSIDE WATERS 



Of the inside waters, Indian and Banana 

 Rivers are of greatest importance to the 

 fisheries. These shallow bodies of water, or 

 lagoons.-maximum depth about 14 feet but 

 generally less than 5 feet--have extensive 

 shallow flats, particularly adjacent to the 

 shorelines. Large areas of the bottom are 

 covered with vegetation, providing ideal habitat 

 for many fish and a wide variety of other 

 organisms. The Intracoastal Waterway, with a 

 controlling depth of about 12 feet, runs south 

 through Mosquito Lagoon into the north end of 

 Indian River and thence through Indian River 

 to the southern end of the work area. 



These lagoons represent some of the nnost 

 productive inside waters in Florida. Man, 

 with his constant dredging and filling, is 

 rapidly changing the nature of the lagoons-- and 

 these changes are not an improvement to the 

 habitat . 



Commercial fishermen feel that the tremen- 

 dous building boom and related dredging and 

 filling, together with a fantastic increase in 

 the nunnbers of pleasure craft using the 

 rivers, have affected the fish movements and 

 disturbed the areas of fish concentrations. 



A side effect of the growth of the missile 

 base and related industries on the fisheries 

 is that young men from fishing fannilies are 

 not beconning fishermen. Good earnings from 

 fishing do not seem to be the deciding factor-- 

 many of these young men apparently prefer 

 employnnent in the newly developed industryin 

 the area. 



Of the eight dominant species mentioned 

 previously, five (black mullet, spotted sea 

 trout, blue crab, spot, and pompano) are taken 

 by inside fisheries--three of these (black 

 mullet, blue crab, and pompano) are taken 

 exclusively in inside waters, and about 95 

 percent of the spotted sea trout and spot are 

 taken from inside waters. In table 5 are shown 

 the complete commercial fishery landings. 

 Cape Canaveral Area, 4-year pound and dollar 

 value averages by species for subareas and the 

 entire area, by months, 1959-62, 



Black Mullet 



The nnullet fishery, despite the impressive 

 landing figures, is economically hard pressed. 

 Mullet is a "cheap" fish, bringing the fisherman 

 an average of only about 5 cents per pound. 

 East coast of Florida mullet are also smaller 

 than mullet from the Florida west coast and 

 in less demand in the very competitive mullet 

 market. Because of these conditions, only a 

 portion of the mullet available are netted and 

 sold each year--on many occasions buyers 

 place the fishernnen on catch limits or restrict 

 entirely the landing of mullet. 



This is a year-round fishery with important 

 poundage every month. The heaviest landings 

 occur during July- November, and peak produc- 

 tion on the average is in October and November. 

 Mullet ranks first in volume of the Cape 

 Canaveral Area fisheries (4-year average of 

 1,620,300 pounds) and third in value (4-year 

 average of $78,845), being exceeded by shrimp 

 and spotted sea trout (tables 4 and 5). Most of 

 the production is taken in runaround gill nets. 



Anderson (1 958a) described early life history 

 stages (4-116 mm.) of striped or black mullet 

 along the U.S. south Atlantic coast. He stated 

 that striped mullet appear to spawn along the 

 coast from lower Florida to North Carolina 

 over a broad area extending from about the 

 20-fathonn line into the Gulf Stream. The data 

 indicate that spawning occurs from October to 



