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PROGRESS IN BIOLOGICAL INQUIRIES, 1926 627 
the same in both localities, as was also the position of the fins and the number 
of vertebre. These measurements show that body proportions of Florida and 
North Carolina fish are different to a degree of high statistical significance, 
and it therefore indicates the segregation of the stock and the lack of extensive 
intermingling 
While such evidence, if sufficiently extensive, would be convincing, it was 
determined to make the proofs more satisfactory through tagging experiments. 
Accordingly, approximately 5,000 fish were tagged in the vicinity of Beaufort 
during 1925. A reward was offered for tagged fish, and 36 fish were returned. 
Early recoveries were from fish moving northward from Beaufort into the 
sounds, away from the ocean; during midsummer (August and September), 
recoveries were from the vicinity of Beaufort or to the southward and sea- 
ward: but from December to March occasional recoveries were made in the 
fresh-water rivers northward and inland from Beaufort, or in the same situa- 
tions to the southward. The most southerly recapture was from near George- 
town, S. C., not more than 170 miles from the place of liberation. 
During 1926 an additional 1,000 mullet were tagged, with almost identical 
returns, except that a larger proportion was recaptured. ‘Thirty-seven were 
returned—three from the northern section of the South Carolina coast and 
all the others from North Carolina waters. It seems certain, therefore, that 
any decline in the North Carolina fishery can only be due to local conditions, 
and any restriction of the commercial fishery would result in benefit to the 
local stock of fish. 
The question of regulation of the fishery is extremely difficult, even if it 
were proved that overfishing is the cause of the shortage of the supply. Nat- 
ural fluctuation in the abundance and composition of the stock may be 
extremely important. The State collects no records suitable for the study of 
these changes, but our limited observations show that great variation occurs 
from year to year. For example, in 1925 we collected records of the landings 
from all of the dealers in Carteret County, where the majority of mullet are 
landed. The total yield did not greatly exceed 750,000 pounds. A high per- 
centage of these were roe mullet; that is, fish 2 or 3 years of age. The younger 
fish were relatively scarce, and cape mullet were present only in moderate 
quantities. In 1926, however, a canvass of the State showed a yield of approxi- 
mately 5,000,000 pounds, which contained a surprising amount of the first- 
class and of cape mullets. Repeated catches of 40 to 50 tons each were made 
by menhaden vessels, and these consisted entirely of cape mullet. In 1925 
the examination of the market landings indicated that after October 10 all of 
the fish taken were roe mullets. The proposal was made that closed seasons be 
established after about October 15, which would reduce the season’s catch only 
about 25 per cent but would result in saving more than half of the total number 
of spawning fish taken that year. During 1926, however, such a closure would 
have curtailed the total yield considerably more, and the number of spawning 
fish protected would have been insignificant. 
Since the spawning fish are taken almost exclusively in haul seines and 
gill nets within the sounds it may be possible to protect them w.thout restrict- 
ing the sea fishery for cape mullet. On the other hand, free exploitation of 
the cape mullet may have serious infiuence on the supply of fish if it proves 
true that the cape mullet are not a distinct stock but are merely members of a 
rapidly growing group of North Carolina fish. It is antic_pated that evidence 
on the subject will be secured through the detailed study of the large collection 
of scales now on hand, and it is hoped that means for collecting more accurate 
statistics in North Carolina can be instituted in order to study the variation in 
abundance of fish in the sea. If the press of administrative duties in this 
office permits, I shall look forward to rounding up many of these problems 
during the coming year. 
TEXAS FISHERIES 
By J. C. PEarson 
The condition of the marine fisheries of Texas has produced a curious frame 
of mind among fishing interests of that State. While many insist that the peak 
of production has been passed long ago and that the fisheries are in a state of 
sad depletion, others maintain that the peak has not even been reached and that 
the fisheries are in a state of arrested development. 
