BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 201 
ply of mallet, 10 scow- loads having been landed atone haul this season, 
each scow holding about 4,000 mullet. The seine used is 125 fathoms 
long, 0 fathoms deep, 2-inch mesh, and about 200,000 mullet have been 
taken up to date this season. 
I next visited an American ranch on Gasparilla Island, near pass of 
same name, owned by Capt. John Peacon, of Key West, who has fished 
here for thirteen years, shipping salted mullet to the Cuban markets, 
which he regards as more profitable than selling them fresh. During 
my stay there I saw from 8,000 to 10,000 mullet split, salted, and packed, 
and had an excellent opportunity of examining them, the fish being 
often brought in alive. I found none ripe, but one or two seemed nearly 
so, and I tried to impregnate the eggs, but after keeping them thirty- 
six hours and seeing no change I concluded they were not sufficiently 
matured. 
Captain Peacon thinks that mullet are as plentiful as ever, but he ob- 
jects to the fishermen continuing to gather here from other points. On 
calm days he has seen the Gulf coast literally lined with small mullet 
about the size of a pin, and in his opinion there is no doubt that the fish 
spawn outside; that is, in saltwater. His catch this season, from Sep- 
tember, with a force of 30 men, is about 250,000 ; seine used, 150 fathoms 
long, 6 fathoms deep, and 2-inch mesh. 
On the 3d of January I left for Cedar Keys, where I learned that the 
season for mullet was nearly over, and that fish had become so scarce 
in the immediate vicinity that most of the dealers contemplated removing 
to the head of Sarasota Bay. 
Mr. Dopson, of the Suwanee Gulf Company, informed me that ten 
years ago a haul of 30,000 mullet was made at their wharf, but now 
they had to send 20 and 30 miles to procure mullet even of an inferior 
size. Dr. McElvane, another dealer who was about to move, stated that 
he was anxious for some steps to be taken to protect and increase the 
supply of mullet. He was one of the few on the Gulf coast who was of 
the opinion that mullet spawned in salt water. 
The results of this investigation are stated as follows : 
(1) Mullet are most abundant on the Atlantic coast at Morehead City, 
N. C.; in the St. John’s Biver, Mosquito Inlet, and Indian River, 
Fla.; on the Gulf coast, in Charlotte Harbor Bay, Sarasota Bay, and 
the Suwanee River. They have decreased greatly on the North Car- 
olina coast, in the St. John’s River, and at Tampa and Cedar Keys, 
and these are the localities where fishing has been done on the most ex- 
tensive scale up to this time; and the decrease is to be attributed 
mainly to the use of small-meshed nets, by means of which the fish are 
destroyed before they come to maturity. 
(2) Mullet migrate from fresh and brackish to salt water duripg the 
months of October and November in North Carolina, and in November, 
December, and January along the coast of Florida, for the purpose of 
spawning, and return to brackish water immediately thereafter. 
