556 HISTOEY AND METHODS OF THE FISHEEIES. 



size of the fish. In the waters of Core and Bogue Sounds, 50 to 75 miles farther south, they are 

 more abundant than any other species. 



The sounds and bays along the entire coast from Oape Hatteras (which seems to be the northern 

 limit for the mature fish or roe-mullet, as they are called) to Texas have been visited annually by 

 immense schools of mullet for many years. Early voyagers refer to them as occurring in almost 

 inconceivable numbers, and the records from that time to the present warrant us in assigning to 

 the species the first place on the list of edible fishes of the South. 



A large majority of the fishermen consulted report that the species has not decreased in num- 

 bers during their recollection, though several think the reverse to be true for the localities in which 

 they live, where they claim that the catch is much smaller than in former years. These assign 

 various causes for the decrease, chief among which is the excessive use of seines or nets. 



Mr. Moore, of Swansborough, B . C., thinks only one-third as many are taken now as ten years 

 ago in that locality, owing to the small mesh of the nets used ; while Mr. Masters, of Saint Aug- 

 ustine, attributes the decrease at his home to the use of gill-nets in the Saint John's Eiver. There 

 is no evidence, however, to show that a general decrease has occurred, though for various reasons 

 the catch fluctuates within certain limits from year to year. 



MOVEMENTS OF THE MULLET. Probably no species is so little understood as the mullet, and 

 the greatest confusion exists concerning almost every phase of its natural history. This is espec 

 ially true of the migrations of the fish and the causes that govern their movements in different 

 localities. Some of the most intelligent fishermen claim that they spend the summer months in 

 the fresh and brackish waters of the bays and rivers along the coast, and go to the ocean in 

 the fall for purposes of reproduction. Others insist that they sometimes spawn in fresh water, 

 though as a rule they visit the large lagoons along the coast for this purpose, and that they 

 seldom, if ever, deposit their eggs in the ocean. Again, it is asserted that they are present in 

 any given locality during a portion of the year only, and that in the early winter they leave the 

 northern waters, passing southward to their winter quarters, where they remain till the following 

 spring. Others believe that their migrations are merely local, and that they stay in the same 

 locality throughout a greater part of the year, accounting for their seeming absence by the sup- 

 position that they remain in the deeper holes of the creeks and marshes until the spawning time 

 arrives. 



From a careful study of the subject, we are led to believe that the young fish, at least, are 

 present in all locaMties between Beaufort, N. C., and Texas throughout the entire year, though 

 they are unquestionably more abundant from August to December. As a rule, the large fish are 

 seen only at this time, and with the exception of the Saint John's Eiver, Florida, we know of no 

 place where large mullet are taken in any considerable numbers at other seasons. 



During the spring and early summer the schools seem entirely broken up, but small-sized indi- 

 viduals are scattered about on the feeding grounds in the grassy bays and marshes bordering the 

 coast. Here they remain till late in July, when they proceed to the deeper channels of the larger 

 bays, where they gather in schools of small size. Little is known of the whereabouts of the large 

 mullet at this season. Later the migrations begin, the fish of medium size moving southward. 

 Their places are soon filled by large fish known to the fishermen as " fat mullet," the reproductive 

 organs of these gradually developing until the fish come to be known as "roe mullet," when it 

 is claimed that immense quantities are taken with the eggs and milt running freely from them. 

 These remain until the first cold storm occurs, when they start for the south, moving rapidly along 

 the outer shore, or through the inland passages, as is most agreeable. They probably spawn on 

 the journey, and entirely disappear as soon as the eggs have been deposited. These fish are fol- 



