THE MULLET FISHERY. 577 
Table showing the extent and value of the mullet fisheries of the United States for the year 1879. 
: Fishing apparatus. 
P 
Number of 
fishermen. Number of | Number of | Number of | Value of | Number of} Value of ge 
seines. gill-nets. | cast-nets. | netting. boats. boats. apparatus. 
TOS deca sennercance wetter eeeeerwenee 8, Aol 658 * 966 285 $52, 656 539 $57, 108 $109, 764 
Long Island Sound to North Carolina. : #120 900 45 1, 450 2, 350 
North Carolina .............-----cs00- c 1, 500 31, 000 775 36, 500 67, 500 
South Carolina ............-... aia 80 1, 200 20 1, 000 2, 200 
Georgia......- Rois weinauduahbemasscsitmecicwiaals 30 900 25 750 1, 650 
Eastern Florida.........--...-+ id 181 4, 125 273 4,780 8, 905 
Weatern Florida. ..... 736 9, 351 311 9, 078 18, 429 
DURDEN onsen co nienecancene ua tewnenntened 100 1, 620 36 1,000 2, 620 
Mississippi .. 22 410 10 150 1, 160 
8, 150 
Products of the fisheries. 
Pounds of fiber ot | Naw 
Pounds of | Value of | © OUBCS Of | pounds of | Value of | Bamber o Les ‘Total value 
mullet | fish sold Tesh mallet sat mullet] salted | (pounds | of dozen| Value of |" or tho 
sold fresh. | fresh. salting. produced. | mullet. taken from| saved. products. 
5 the water. |. 
Total: ocoseeccveesueucde senesanes 2,966, 883 | $87,168 | 5,270,422} 3,872,250 | $134,833 | 8,237,305 | 15,845 | $7, 127 $224, 292 
Long Island Sound to North Carolina. . 82, 700 2, 480 33, 000 22, 000 770 115, 700: |= sciccicmsinie| ca cncewaas 3, 250 
North Carolina. .....-...-..--.0----e-- 683, 000 19,500 | 2,685,000 | 1,790, 000 60,000 | 3, 368, 000 2, 000 1, 000 80, 500 
South Carolina. a i 220, 000 7,000 12, 000 8, 000 232, 000 20 10 7, 210 
Georgia ..........- -| 100, 000 4, 000 6, 000 4,000 106, 000 |.......22.[eeceeeeeee 4, 100 
Eastern Florida . . 633, 000 19, 837 30, 000 20, 000 663, 000 500 250 |. 20, 787 
Weatern Florida . 1, 058, 083 28,891 | 2,504,422 | 2, 028, 250 3, 562, 505 13, 325 5, 867 102, 721 
Alabama ........- - 125, 000 125, 000 38, 750 
Mississippi........ ¥ 1, 500 1,500 60 
Lonisiana .... 55, 000 55, 000 |. 1, 650 
Texas ........ . 8, 000 18, 000 240 
California .......0..2cceeesnereeeeces a 600 COU cree ac acl eceweonins 2 | 
* These fish only occasionally for mullet, and hence cannot be regarded as professional mullet fishermen. + Estimated. 
9. MARKETS. 
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 
toullet 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 
SEO. vV——37 
