560 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



barrels of mullet were secured and shipped by vessel to New Orleans, no returns ever being re- 

 ceived for them. At this time the customs officer of Pensacola took the vessel's papers regular 

 fishing papers issued at Gloucester claiming that they did not grant the privilege of fishing for 

 mullet. These papers were kept for about two months, and when returned the fishing season was 

 over, so that the vessel was obliged to set sail for the North, with nothing to show for her voyage. 

 The Yorktown had secured 16 barrels of fish, when her captain, hearing of the action of the cus- 

 toms officers in regard to the Nautilus, was afraid to continue the work." Mr. Stewart further 

 adds that there were no commercial fisheries on the coast at that time, nor had there been much 

 fishing for any purpose except by the Indians. He says : "The winter fishing fleet of Apalachicola 

 consisted of two small boats, maimed by four resident fishermen." There were certain places, 

 however, in Eastern Florida where the mullet fisheries were of considerable importance, and par- 

 ties at the mouth of the Saint John's River and elsewhere were engaged in drying and salting the 

 species for shipment to the West Indies. 



3. FISHING GROUNDS. 



Owing to the peculiar habit of the mullet of following the shore in their migrations, it may be 

 said that the fishing grounds extend without interruption throughout the entire range of the 

 Atlantic species, with a limited fishery for the M. mexicana at San Diego, Cal. The fish are present 

 in all bays and coves along the outer beach from Sandy Hook, N. J., to Mexico. From North 

 Carolina to Mississippi they are peculiarly abundant, and within these limits they could undoubt- 

 edly be taken at almost any point, in case suitable apparatus was used, during the proper season. 

 There are, however, certain regions or stretches of coast which, owing to their physical character- 

 istics, are the natural feeding and spawning grounds of large schools of mullet, and when these 

 chance to be near settled districts the fisheries are always developed to a greater or less extent. 

 When in addition the region has rail or steamboat communications with the larger markets, or 

 when it is tributary to a thickly-settled agricultural region, the fishing becomes extensive, and 

 many persons devote their entire attention to the fishing for several months. 



In New Jersey there are no important mullet grounds, though about Sandy Hook limited 

 quantities of small fish and ''bull-mullet" are taken for home use and for shipment. A few are 

 taken at various points between Long Island Sound and Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, the latter 

 being the most northern fishing ground of importance on the coast. 



The fish are found in the mouths of all the rivers of Pamlico Sound, and indeed they often 

 ascend well up into fresh water. They are not uncommonly seen a few miles above New Berne, 

 on the Neuse. They are often taken at Blount's Creek, 8 miles below Washington, in the Tar, 

 and occasionally at Leedville, at the head of navigation on the Pungo River. They are also found 

 in considerable numbers along " The Banks " as far north as Oregon Inlet. The waters above this 

 point are usually quite fresh, and no large mullet enter them ; but the young are seen in the lower 

 portions of both Albemarle and Currituck Sounds, while specimens are occasionally taken at 

 Edenton and Poplar Branch, near the head of these respective waters. The fishing for the species 

 is wholly to the southward of Roanoke Island. Oregon Inlet is thus practically the northern limit 

 of mullet fishing for profit in the United States. All portions of the coast between Ocracoke Inlet 

 and Little River, the southern boundary of the State, are visited by numerous fishing crews, who 

 spend several months each fall in catching mullet, which they salt for shipment to the interior. 

 Some crews have no regular fishing station, but move about from day to day, hauling their seines 

 at any point along the inner channels or on the outer beach, where the fish chance to be most 

 abundant. Along certain portions of the coast, however, especially in the waters of Core and 



