572 HISTOEY AND METHODS OF TEE FISHEEIES. 



fishermen to handle them. Usually regular wages were paid, and the fishermen always succeeded 

 in making more money than could have been made in the ordinary way. This system is now prac- 

 tically abandoned, as the division of the catch into shares is found to work more satisfactorily. 



7. DISPOSITION OF THE CATCH. 



METHODS OF PRESERVING THE FISH. If we except Beaufort and vicinity, few mullet are 

 salted along the Atlantic coast, as there is in the markets of the larger towns a fair demand for the 

 fish in a fresh state, and the fishermen usually prefer to dispose of them in this way. In former 

 years nearly all of the fish taken to Beaufort were salted and packed in barrels for home supply or 

 for shipment to the interior. Within the past few years, however, the trade in fresh fish has opened 

 a market for a small percentage of this catch, though the majority, especially of the large fish, are 

 now salted as formerly. The same is true, to a certain extent, for the Wilmington district. Here 

 the entire catch was formerly salted, but of late the fishermen prefer to sell their fish fresh when 

 they can get 7 or 8 cents a bunch for them. Each member of the crew receives his share of a haul 

 as soon as the seine is landed, and is, of course, at liberty to dispose of it as he may think proper. 

 If in poor circumstances, he is usually anxious to turn his mullet into money at once, and he thus 

 sells the bulk of his fish at Wilmington, regardless of the price paid by the dealers. 



South of Little Eiver, which marks the boundary between North and South Carolina, almost 

 no mullet are salted for market, although each fisherman puts up a limited supply for his own use. 

 The remainder taken by those fishing for the larger markets are at once sent to the principal fish- 

 dealers. In the thinly populated regions any surplus is sold to farmers, who salt the fish for family 

 use. Many of the fishermen of this region, especially those of Georgia and Eastern Florida, are 

 wholly unacquainted with the methods of salting as employed in other localities, and owing to their 

 ignorance of the proper methods of curing their fish they often lose most of those put up by them. 

 This has led many of them to entirely discontinue the salting of mullet, and during our visit to the 

 region we met quite a number who insisted that no mullet taken during the warmer weather could 

 be salted so as to keep sweet for any length of time. About Charleston, S. C., and at Jacksonville, 

 New Berlin, and Mayport, on the lower Saint John's, though considerable quantities of mullet are 

 taken, the entire catch is sold fresh. 



On the Gulf coast, where the fisheries are extensive, most of the mullet are salted. The methods 

 vary considerably with the locality, some of the fishermen "kenching" or dry-salting their fish, 

 while others salt in brine in the ordinary way. Kench-curing is, perhaps, more generally prac- 

 ticed in Southern and Southwestern Florida than elsewhere, and three-fourths of all the mullet 

 prepared on the Gulf coast of that State are treated in this way, although in Apalachicola and 

 vicinity salting in brine is the favorite method. 



The method of dressing is similar to that employed for other species in the same localities. 

 As soon as the boat containing the mullet arrives at the station the fish are carried to the salting- 

 sheds, where suitable arrangements have been made for preserving them. The men are arranged 

 in gangs, each having his particular work to perform. Several persons, known as splitters, take 

 their positions on one side of the table, while the others, known as gillers, scrapers, and spawners, 

 stand on the opposite side. The splitter takes the fish in his left hand, while in his right he holds 

 a knife, with which he cuts it open from nose to tail along the back. It is then thrown to the giller, 

 who removes the gills and entrails and cuts a gash along the side containing the backbone, in order 

 that the salt may the more readily penetrate the flesh. This done, he tosses it to the scraper, who 

 removes the blood and the black membrane that adheres to the nape. When roe-mullet are taken, 



