APPENDIX III APPENDIX III 
Florida has established a minimum length for black mullet 
and certain counties have laws regulating gear, fishing 
areas, and size restrictions. 
OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH AND 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE FISHERY 
Resource availability 
Mullet have been regarded over the years as an extremely 
underused species. Although available in large quantities 
from North Carolina to Texas, total U.S. landings have never 
exceeded 45 million pounds in any one year. NMFS biologists 
estimate the maximum sustainable yield to be between 150 to 
200 million pounds annually. 
Harvesting capability 
Mullet are relatively easy and inexpensive to catch 
because they school in the intercoastal waters and bays 
in large concentrations. They can be taken by gillnets, 
seines, cast nets, and trammel nets. Mullet fishing gener- 
ally requires low capital investment and low operating 
costs. These conditions allow easy entry. 
Marketed mullet product forms are: fresh, frozen, 
smoked, and roe. Other product forms that are possible for 
increasing the use of mullet are canned, fillets, headed 
and gutted, and minced products. The actual potential for 
the products is not known. 
Marketing potential 
Alternatives for possible market expansion of mullet 
include expanding of existing markets, expanding into new 
geographical areas, expanding by using mullet in products 
such as fish sticks and cakes which are not identified to 
a particular fish but which are produced from other fish 
species, and expanding through the development of new 
products. 
OBSTACLES INHIBITING GROWTH AND 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE FISHERY 
Product development and processing 
Black mullet have, traditionally, been sold fresh or 
frozen in the round at retail seafood markets. Consumer 
buying patterns have tended to shift toward food purchases 
721] 2 
