History and Cultural SignsWest Goose Creek Seineyard |
West Goose Creek Seineyard at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Florida. Published by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS).
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30° 9.099' N
6
5
4
Mandalay: site of Aucilla River
St. Marks Lighthouse: site of
Lighthouse, Ft. Williams, and
Spanish Hole/Shipwreck
Mounds Station: site of
Shell Mounds
and Naval
Naval Stores
Stores
Paleo
Indians and
St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge History Trail
Wakulla Beach: site of
Wakulla Beach Hotel and
West Goose Creek Seineyards
Seineyard
84°8.892' W
30° 7.797' N
30° 6.316' N
1
Plum Orchard: site of Port Leon
84°8.710' W
84°15.703' W
2
East River: site of CCC and
Salt Works
GPS Coordinates:
84°15.703' W ~ 30° 6.316' N
3
GPS Coordinates:
84° 10.955' W ~ 30° 4.658' N
84° 58.769'
83°
10.955' W
84° 9.869' W
30° 6.985' N
30° 4.658' N
30° 5.282' N
Seining for mullet was once a popular
pastime and is now almost a lost art.
People
were drawn
to thefrom
shallow
Fort Williams,
in a drawing
Frankwaters
Leslie’s
Illustrated
Newpaper,
of Apalachee
Bay to February
catch the22,
fat1862
fish (detail).
(Courtesy
Statenets.
Archives of Florida)
using
large seine
83° 58.769' W
(Courtesy Mays Leroy Gray)
People seined for mullet at West Goose Creek
until the mid-1980s. (Courtesy St. Marks
Refuge files)
Local people and others from as far
away as south Georgia – a journey of
several days by wagon – came to help
catch the fish. With the fall harvest over,
there was no need to hurry. The people
could relax and barter hams and other
farm produce for barrels of salted mullet.
The locale, called a seineyard and
usually named for the owner or the
geographic location, was based on the
need for fairly shallow water with a
bottom free of obstacles that could snag
the seine net and a beach where the
catch, called a “lick,” could be hauled
out and processed.
Approximately 16 seineyards
once operated between the St. Marks
Lighthouse and Turkey Point in Franklin
County. Several seineyards operated
on or near the refuge including West
Goose Creek, St. Marks River, Wakulla
Beach, Shell Point, and Skipper Bay. The
seineyards were a source of income for
the owner as well as a place for people
to relax and meet friends, and ownership
might pass through the family or be sold.
Fishing with a rod and reel is often
a hurry-up-and-wait activity and using
a seine net is no exception. Men rowed
(Courtesy National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration)
their boats into the water and played
out nets of up to 600 ft. long. Then they
waited. When the striker, who usually
scanned the bay from a tower, called,
“come ashore!” the men strained at their
oars as they rowed for shore, trapping
the fish.
Others pitched in to draw the fishladen net onto the beach. Then all
hands began the work of removing
the catch and preparing the mullet for
smoking or salting. Mullet are best eaten
Cleaning the fish as soon as possible was necessary due to the lack of refrigeration. Dogs,
birds, and hogs helped clean up, too. (Courtesy
State Archives of Florida)
Fall at the seineyard was a time for people to
gather. (Courtesy St. Marks Refuge files)
fresh or preserved because the flesh
deteriorates rapidly and refrigeration
was not available. Many barrels of
salted fish were sold and shipped to feed
farmhands, turpentine workers, and for
home use.
The traditional fall gathering at the
seineyards declined as regulations on
the fishing industry increased and as the
automobile replaced the wagon and other
activities competed for people’s time.
West Goose Creek is best remembered,
perhaps because of the live oak grove
that afforded shade and because
it operated until the mid-1980s. In
November 1985, Hurricane Kate’s winds
smashed the last of the shelters at West
Goose Creek and brought the era to a
close.
The St. Marks Refuge Association, Inc.,
with a matching grant from the National Fish
and Wildlife Foundation, produced the signs
and brochures for the St. Marks National
Wildlife Refuge History Trail. The association
is a 501(c)(3) organization that supports
educational, environmental, and biological
programs of St. Marks National Wildlife
Refuge. Visit www.stmarksrefuge.org for more
information.
9/2010