Mullet solution could be catch for food banks

The latest mullet season was the best in memory for many fishermen, but for local residents, the season came with a catch: Fish houses didn’t have the capacity to process the number of fish caught by commercial fishermen, and, as a result, fishermen left dead fish behind in the water, many of which washed up on Longboat Key and Anna Maria Island beaches. Male mullet are often discarded in strong seasons because they are less valuable than roe-containing females.

A “mullet run” like the latest one is a naturally occurring event that occurs every 10 to 15 years, Holmes Beach Commission Chairman David Zaccagnino said at the Feb. 15 Coalition of Barrier Island Elected Officials meeting. But local officials have developed a plan that could be a net benefit to the community: The next time a mullet run occurs, local food banks will coordinate an effort to encourage fishermen to bring extra fish to the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage in Cortez. The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office could also assist with storage efforts.

Longboat Key Mayor Jim Brown said at the meeting that he supports the efforts proposed but questioned if there were also enforcement options for fishermen who discard fish in the water.

But Zaccagnino said that law-enforcement agencies would have difficulty enforcing regulations in a mullet run like the most recent one, which attracted many non-local fishermen.

But at least one local restaurateur isn’t waiting for a mullet run to net the benefits of the fish. Ed Chiles, who owns Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub on Longboat Key, BeachHouse Restaurant on Bradenton Beach and Sandbar Restaurant on Anna Maria, enhanced mullet selections on his menus last season and plans to do so again later this year. Although mullet season typically runs between October and January, Chiles will add the fish back to menus as soon as the fish get fat enough. In fact, he said that mullet often taste best earlier on, before they produce roe. Chiles believes that there could be other uses for mullet, such as extracting oils for fish-oil supplements.

“There is a lot more value to be derived from mullet than has been derived in the past,” he said.