West Goose Creek Seinyard
GPS coordinates: -84.15.703W, 30.6.316N
Seining for mullet was once a popular pastime and is now almost a lost art. People were drawn to the shallow waters of Apalachee Bay to catch the fat fish using large seine nets.
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 barther hames and other farm produce for barrels of salted mullet.
The locale, called a seineyard and usually named for the owner or geographic location, was based on teh 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 their boats into the water and played out nets of up to 600 feet 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 fish-laden net on to the beach. Then all the hands began the work of removing the catch and preparing the mullet for smoking or salting. Mullet are best eaten fresh or preserved because the flesh deteriorates rapidly and refrigeration was not available. Many barrels of salted flesh were sold and shipped to feed farmhands, turpentine workers, and for home use.
The traditional fall gather at the seineyards declined as regulations on the fishing industry increased and as the automobile replaced the wagon and other activites 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.
