THE MULLET FISHERY. 



Table showing the extent and value of the mullet fisheries of the United States for the year 1879. 



577 



Number of 

 fishermen. 



Fishing apparatus. 



Number of 

 seines. 



Number of 

 gill-nets. 



Number of 

 cast-nets. 



Value of | Number of 

 netting, j boats. 



Value of 

 boats. 



Total 



value of 



apparatus. 



Total. 



3,101 



658 



285 



$52, 656 



539 



$57, 108 



$109, 764 



Long Island Sound to North Carolina. 



North Carolina 



South Carolina 



Georgia 



Eastern Florida 



Western Florida 



Alabama 



Mississippi , 



Louisiana , 



Texas 



California... 



120 



1,500 



80 



30 



181 



736 



100 



22 



332 



50 



450 



15 



5 

 16 

 85 

 15 



4 

 18 



TOO 

 10 

 20 

 57 



125 



20 



7 



27 



20 

 10 

 35 



220 



900 



31,000 



1,200 



900 

 4,125 

 9,351 

 1,620 



410 

 3,150 



45 



775 



20 



25 



273 



311 



35 



10 



45 



1,450 



36,500 



1,000 



750 

 4,780 

 9,078 

 1,000 



760 

 1,800 



2,350 



67,500 



2,200 



1,650 



8,905 



18, 429 



2,620 



1,160 



4,950 



Total 2,966,883 



Products of the fisheries. 



Pounds of 



ranllet 

 Hold fresh. 



Long Island Sonnd to North Carolina. 



North Carolina 



South Carolina 



Georgia 



Eastern Florida 



Western Florida 



Alabama 



Mississippi 



Louisiana 



Texas 



California . . . 



82, 700 



683, 000 



220, 000 



100, 000 



633, 000 



1,058,083 



125, 000 



1,500 



55, OOC 



8,000 



600 



Value of 



fish sold 



fresh. 



$87, 168 



2,480 

 19, 500 



7,000 



4.000 

 19, 837 

 28, 891 



3,750 

 60 



1,650 



Pounds of , 



fresh mullet 



used for 



salting. 



5, 270, 422 



33, 000 

 2, 685, 000 



12,000 

 6,000 



30, 000 

 2, 504, 422 



Pounds of 

 salt mullet 

 produced. 



3, 872, 250 



22, 000 



1, 790, 000 



8,000 



4,000 



20,000 



2, 028, 250 



Value of 

 salted 

 mullet. 



$134, 833 



770 



60, 000 



200 



100 



700 



73, 063 



Total 



number of 



pounds 



of mullet 



taken from 



the water. 



8, 237, 305 



115, 700 



3, 368, 000 



232, 000 



106, 000 



663, 000 



3, 562, 505 



125,000 



1,500 



55,000 



t8, 000 



600 



Number 



of dozen 



roes 



saved. 



15,845 



2,000 

 20 



500 

 13, 325 



Value of 

 roes. 



$7, 127 



1,000 

 10 



250 

 5,867 



Total value 



of the 

 products. 



$224,292 



3,250 



80,500 



7,210 



4,100 



20, 787 



102, 721 



3,750 



60 



1,650 

 240 

 24 



* These fish only occasionally for mullet, and hence cannot be regarded as professional mullet fishermen. 



9. MAEKETS. 



t Estimated. 



A good deal has been said from time to time about the food qualities of the mullet. In all of 

 the principal seaport towns between North Carolina and Louisiana it is an important article of 

 food, and in many places a third, or even a larger percentage, of all the fresh fish consumed are of 

 this species. When perfectly fresh, mullet are considered of excellent flavor and find a ready sale, 

 but owing to their fatness they soon deteriorate in warm weather, and when stale have a rank 

 flavor which is not at all pleasant. In cool weather, however, or in seasons when they are not 

 particularly oily, they keep equally well with the other grades of fish. Many contend that salt 

 mullet are of an inferior quality, and will never come into general favor. These insist that the fish 

 are soft and of a rank and muddy flavor. Others, on the contrary, hold that they compare very 

 favorably with the mackerel and with other pickled fish so frequently met with in the principal 

 markets. Professor Goode, in referring to the subject, says: "I had an opportunity of tasting 

 some salted by a negro at Mill Cove, and can bear testimony to their excellence. Their flavor is 

 more like that of a salted salmon than of a mackerel, and they are hard, toothsome, and not at all 

 muddy in taste." An examination of the evidence on both sides leads to the belief that where 

 inferior grades of mullet are found the difficulty is to be attributed to the defective methods of 

 SEC. v 37 



