Over the past four to six weeks, local fishers saw a historic season for mullet — a fish sought after for its meat and, in the case of female mullet, its pouch of eggs.
According to Karen Bell, of A.P. Bell Fish Co. in Cortez, the amount of mullet brought in was easily three times that of last year, putting this season roughly on par with 2007, the only other season in the past 15 years to reach this volume.
“Conditions this year were perfect for fishing. It was cold, but not too cold. We hope it will happen again some day,” said Bell.
Bell’s father, Walter Bell, also of A.P. Bell Fish Co., said he’d never seen so many mullet in his life.
There is little the fishing industry can do to prepare for a season of this magnitude, as there is no way to know the influx of mullet will be large or small. While exciting and lucrative, a season such as this also is exhausting. “I can’t deny it was a little overwhelming. The processing of the fish was literally occurring around the clock,” Walter Bell said.
With the productive season comes some unfortunate byproducts.
A number of Anna Maria and Longboat Key residents complained of dead mullet washing up on the shoreline, many of them whole, some gutted for their roe.
“It’s a sad thing to see,” said Bell. “Some fisherman, both local and from out-of-town, are better about it. Some are not.”
When the yield is unexpectedly high, the processors at the fish houses are not the only ones overwhelmed.
Many fish companies reached their capacity for male mullet while the season was still at its peak, female mullet being of more valuable because the roe commands a substantially higher price than the male roe. As a result, when a crew hauls in a large catch, they often throw the male fish back, but the mullet don’t always survive.
“It looks bad, and it’s an unfortunate waste of fish, but when this occurs we can at least know that the fish are returning to the ecosystem,” said Bell.
Talking to the Coast Guard, they tell of local plants letting many tons of mullet go bad on their dock. Other fishermen say the same thing.
It is illegal to dump fish “unless they are no longer viable.”
So fish plants (especially one particular company, from what many say) cause their coolers to go warm, right after the female roe is extracted, then wait until the mullet go bad and dump them right into the water – no laws broken. Oddly enough, these same operators also seem to never have enough ice on hand for the fish but never lose any roe…
Apparently such ‘accidents’ are not a unique thing for these guys. I’m told “He’s done it before, and he’ll do it again until someone calls him on it.”
All I know is it stinks. My daughter and I counted over 100 on a small stretch of shore one morning. I am all for supporting the local fishing community, but they need to ensure they can handle the run when it happens. They should not let the fish go bad just because males are worth a small fraction of the female roe.
And I respect the local papers for what they are, but a little digging into the secret-everyone-knows is in order. We all know that the system is gamed and cheated, and we know it causes problems for us. Yet nothing from the paper but a puff piece on how great it all is.
Ads, maybe?
Seems as though you are refering to the fish house as the culprit. Any fish the fish house puts back has been gutted. Most of the fish I saw on beach were whole fish wich were thrown over after a day of fishing because nobody will buy them. Simple