Through its fishery, mullet has evolved over the years into a social/cultural icon here on the northern Gulf Coast.

We eat it fried on Saturdays before the big game, at church socials and fundraising events. It is smoked, baked and used in gumbo. Mullet is used for bait in crab traps and is a great on the end of a hook especially for bull reds in the fall.

We even have an annual festival that involves drinking large quantities of beer and tossing around their dead carcasses.

There are two species of mullet in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The most common is the striped or black mullet (Mugil cephalus) and the white or silver mullet (Mugil curema). The one that we are most familiar with is the striped mullet. The striped mullet is the one used in the mullet toss as it's the larger of the two. This species forms large schools during the fall in the lower reaches of coastal streams and rivers prior to migrating offshore during October through December to spawn. The migration usually happens around the time of the full moon.

These schools migrate up to 100 miles offshore where the eggs and sperm are released on mass. Offshore vessels have reported the sea turning white from the mullet sperm for up to a square mile or more. Their fertilized eggs float and are washed in on the tide — eggs that aren’t fertilized sink and become food for other species. A large female striped mullet can produce more than four million eggs per spawn. When they finish spawning the majority return to their point of origin and those that don't windup in neighboring states.

Mullet serve as a vital ecological linkage between different trophic levels in the marine and estuarine environments. Mullet are well adapted to utilize microorganisms, small algae and decaying plant material as food items. They are preyed on by birds, other fish, sharks and dolphins. Mullet are found in a wide range of depths and habitats and can exist in freshwater, estuarine, and marine environments.

Striped mullet are commercially fished year round for their flesh. Mullet are also fished recreationally with gill nets and hand lines. The smaller silvers, which are thought to taste sweeter, are fished during most of the year. Silvers are sensitive to cold and sizable die offs can occur during the winter months when temperatures get down to the high 20’s and low 30’s for two or three days in a row.

NMFS commercial landing information indicates that 15.7 million pounds of striped mullet were landed in Alabama from 1990 to 2000 worth $8.4 million to the fishermen. For the same period Gulfwide mullet landings were 103.76 million pounds worth $67 million.

With the recreational fishing sector in the Gulf of Mexico having the ear of the various state governments, the primary gear, gill nets, used to harvest mullet has either been heavily restricted or eliminated. There are currently management plans in place for striped mullet in each of the Gulf states.

How will the consumer obtain mullet without the commercial fisherman? Are we going to import it from China or someplace else?  Oh, some people will say we can raise them here in hatcheries. Given the high cost of labor and materials in the U.S., relative to overseas, that will most likely not happen.

One thing that may help keep the mullet fishery alive is if Alabama starts processing the mullet roe rather than shipping it.

If the roe is processed into bottarga, which is an expensive product made from dried mullet eggs, serious money could be made. Bottarga goes for more than $100 a pound as opposed to the $1 a pound for raw roe.

The commercial mullet fishery as we've know it appears to have a tenuous future at best, given the way the trend in regulations have been going for the last 20 years.

Think Global – Act Local!

Dr. “Skip” Lazauski's television show “Eco-Bites”, can now be seen on youtube.com. To reach Dr. Lazauski for questions and comments, send emails to IchiOrca@yahoo.com. For more information, see his website, www.drskiponline.com.