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Mullet Shortage

Posted Jan 28, 2008 by Frank Sargeant

Updated Jan 28, 2008 at 10:35 AM

Q: I strongly disagree that mullet have made a comeback to previous levels. That is before commercial netting, just for the roe. The fish would be discarded after removal of the roe and the roe shipped to Asian countries. I was not for the gill net ban, only against the roe fishing. I had a gill net boat and netted on my days off from my job as a Hillsborough County deputy. To me it was recreational. I was never able to cash in on the roe mullet runs due to my work hours. I sold the gill net boat before the net ban and went back to cast netting. There were several areas I could depend on to cast net my limit weekly. In my opinion mullet are the best eating fish that swim. In ‘96 I moved out of the area and moved back in ‘06. Since moving back to the Bay area I have returned to my old cast netting areas and the mullet are not there. Also there is a bridge in Dunedin where we threw our nets blindly with success until the roe netting began in Clearwater Bay. I haven’t been back to this bridge in years but I doubt that the mullet have returned. There should be a ban on exporting the mullet roe. There was never a shortage of mullet before exporting began and the roe was only consumed locally. I make my own cast nets and have a boat just for cast netting (wide, flat bottom and stable). I am a nephew of Gene Turner’s and although not as vocal, I am concerned about the lack of mullet in our waters.  G. Turner

A: Many anglers feel the way you do. Of course, the commercial netters don’t agree, but the FFWCC will consider the input from various user groups as well as the biological status of the fish before they make any changes. Hopefully, we won’t see a return to toward the bad old days prior to 1995.