THE MULLET FISHERY. 575 



iu kegs and kits in the ordinary way; in others they are slightly salted, after which they are thor- 

 oughly dried and packed in boxes for shipment. Along certain portions of the coast the practice of 

 smoking them prevails to a limited extent. 



If the roes are to be dried they are immediately on removal from the h'sh placed in brine, 

 where they are allowed to remain for several hours, after which they are spread upon boards and 

 placed in the warm sunlight until all or a greater part of the moisture has been evaporated. In 

 some localities the roes are pressed, in which case the partially dried ones are placed between 

 boards, where they remain, subjected to a slight_j>ressure, until thoroughly dried. In pleasant 

 weather the time required in drying and pressing is about a week; if cloudy or rainy, a propor- 

 tionately longer time is needed. When properly dried and pressed these roes are from 2 to 4 inches 

 wide and half to two-thirds of an inch thick. They vary greatly in color from yellowish brown 

 to dark red, the shade depending largely upon the method of curing. 



Some of the fishermen give special attention to the preparation of roes, and produce those that, 

 iu addition to being very palatable, are of excellent appearance. Others, on the contrary, bestow 

 little care upon them, and as a result they produce an article which is always inferior and in many 

 cases nearly worthless. 



Mr. Stearns, after mentioning the excellent appearance of the roes seen by him at the Sarasota 

 fishery, says that those noticed at a Spanish fishery near by "were maggoty, but the fishermen 

 seemed to think they were all right, remarking that that condition was nothing unusual." 



For many years the North Carolina fishermen have been accustomed to preserve the roes, either 

 dry or in pickle, and ship them to Charleston, from which place they have been largely exported 

 to the West Indies. At Saint Augustine, Fla., considerable numbers are dried for local consump- 

 tion, though few, if any, are shipped from the region. Along the Gulf coast the fishermen make a 

 regular business of saving and curing them. The majority are sun dried for the Cuban trade, 

 while a large percentage of those put up in kegs are shipped to the interior towns of Georgia and 

 Alabama. 



Both the dried and salted roes are sold by count, the price varying somewhat iu the different 

 markets, usually ranging from 60 cents to $1 per dozen. The price paid to the fishermen averages 

 about 50 cents. When dried the roes are often sliced up and eaten raw, though they are occasion- 

 ally cooked in different ways. The salt roes are usually fried, and when well cooked are exceed- 

 ingly palatable. 



8. EXTENT OF THE FISHERY. 



Comparatively few mullet are taken north of Cape Henry, as they are not sufficiently abundant 

 to warrant any one in making a business of catching them. The first important fishery as we pro- 

 ceed southward, is in the North Carolina waters between Roanoke Island and New Berne, where 

 all of the local fishermen engage in their capture to a limited extent in the fall. The majority fish 

 only for home supply, but several parties fish more extensively, selling their surplus catch to the 

 farmers of the locality. The quantity taken iu this region, if we exclude the 1,500 barrels taken by 

 the "bank" fishermen south of Cape Hatteras, is 700 barrels of salt fish, valued at $2,500, and 20,000 

 bunches of fresh fish, having an equal value. 



In the waters of Core and Bogue Sounds the largest fisheries on the Atlantic coast are found. 

 The number of seines between Ocracoke Inlet and New River in 1880 was 37; 20 were fished in 

 the sounds and 17 along the outer beach. In addition to these, a large number of drag-nets and up- 

 wards of 200 gill-nets were used; nearly all of the fishermen being extensively engaged iu the cap- 

 ture of the species for two or three months, some of them continuing for a much longer period. 



