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BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
DRY-SALTED MULLET. 
In the extensive mullet fisheries of the southern coast from North Carolina to 
Florida large quantities of this species are dry-salted or keuch-cured, the annual 
output on the coast of Florida amounting to nearly 2,000,000 pounds. Some are 
pickled in brine, but the majority on the west coast of Florida are dry-salted. The 
process employed is as follows: 
Dressing begins as soon as the fish are landed at the station, which is generally 
within a few minutes after they are removed from the water. In splitting, each fish is 
taken in the left hand with the tail toward the splitter, and by means of a kuile it is 
opened along the left side of the backbone from the head to the tail, in much the same 
way that mackerel are split. All viscera are then removed and a gash or “score ” is 
cut along the right side of the fish, which contains the backbone, in order that the salt 
may the more readily penetrate the fiesh. In some localities the heads of mullet are 
removed before the fish are split. When roe-mullet are taken the roe bags are carefully 
removed while the fish are being eviscerated and are salted separately. The blood and 
black stomach membrane adhering to the napes are then scraped away and the fish 
are thrown into a trough of clean salt water, where they remain for a few minutes and 
are thoroughly washed, all particles of blood being carefully removed. On removal 
from the washing tank or barrel the fish are rubbed thoroughly with salt, Liverpool salt 
being most commoidy used. They are next piled uii under cover in kenches, with a 
sprinkling of salt between each layer, with the backs placed downward, as is the case 
with green cod, so as to retain the dissolved salt. These kenches are ranged in regular 
order, with the heads of the fish outward, and extend 3 or 4 feet in height. In some 
localities, after the salting and before kenchiug, the two sides of the fish are brought 
together again, leaving the fish in natural shape, with the abdominal cavities filled 
with salt. 
When a large haul of mullet has been made the work of dressing and salting 
must be rushed to prevent the fish from becoming tainted; and in warm weather, 
especially during August, if the fish are not salted within a few hours after landing 
they are apt to become discolored or to rust. The fish remain in these kenches until 
they are to be placed on the market, which may not be for three or four months. 
In preparing for shipment the salted mullet are placed in boxes or tied up in 
bundles. No uniform style or size of package is used, resulting naturally in much 
confusion arid inconvenience to the trade. Some fishermen simply bundle the mullet 
in such a way that the skin side is outward, while others cover the bundles with a 
single layer of matting or palmetto leaves. When carefully prepared these fish are of 
excellent quality, except that those cured during the warm weather of Julj^ and 
August sometimes rust. 
The following method of curing mullet is recommended to those who wish a really 
choice product without regard to the cost of preparation: 
The fresh lisli are cut along the ventral part and eviscerated. They are next soaked for two 
hours or so iu salt water, heheaded and split down the back, and the backbone removed. Four or five 
cuts are then made transversely across each half of the fish on the inner surface, and the fish are 
packed in dry salt, where they remain for about one week. On removal they are washed to remove 
the slime, uudissolved salt, etc., and then suspended iu the shade, where they are allowed to dry 
for five or six weeks. Each fish is then sprinkled with fine table salt and carefully wrapped with 
waxed or i^araffin paper to exclude the air, and suspended in a well- ventilated room, where it may he 
kept for several months under favorable conditions. 
