The times., 1901-03-24
FLORIDA SPONGE FIELDS
A Growing Industry on the Coast
of the Peninsula.
s0e American Fisheries Rivning
Those Along the Mediterranean
The Methods Of Securing the
Valuable Article of Commerce.

A sponge is usually looked upon as
something necessarily Oriental. Sponge
fishing is thought of as a trade piled by
the 1.-THE naked and brown Indians. in the
Indian Ocean. or by equally interesting
natives of the shores Of the Eastern
Mediterranean. The average mind sees a
picture with cockle-shell boats. dancing
upon the water surface. and figures fol
lowed by a train Of bubbles cleaving tha
blue depths of the waters and reaching
out for the coveted spongcs.
This picture is true. today. but there is
another picture which should be more
familiar to Americans. It is that OF a
rough salor-like figure, in a broad
brimmed dilapidated hat, tarpaulin. or
rough corduroy coat, and well-worn
trousers, seated in a dory-like row boat,
peering over the side into the top Of a
bucket that floats on the water, with his
hands managing a long pole that is
thrust into the water This is the picture
of the American sponge fisherman. who
works of the coast of Florida, and if he
is not quite so interesting from an artistic
point of view as the man of the Indian
Ocean or the Mediterranean. he is at least
characteristicaly American and quite as
productive as his competitor across the
water, man for man, perhaps more so.
The sponge fishing OFF the Florida coast
is carried on so quietly that the knoWl-
edge of fits existence does not extend
much beyond the people who were on the
little area over which It is carried on, and
the few mercantile houses which make
speciality of dealing in sponges. Yet,
though the yield of the American field is
not sufficient to supply the American de-
mand, II supplies a good portion Of 1t, and
it is much more than probable that the
article which was sold to you at the drug
store as the best imported sponge" with
which you washed your face this morn
ing was rooted from its bed by an Amer
lean fisherman in the Florida fisheries.
There are few kinds of sponges that our
Yields do not produce. and in almost every
trade you Will find them.
The fisheries are old, perhaps as old as
any commercial trade in thecountry En-
Eaged in it are hoary-hcaded men, who
have taken their boats and equipment
from other hoary-headed men. who had
theirs in turn from others similarly old.
In the sponge fishing business has grown
up q sort Of close community, like that
at Cape Cod, with manners, traditions
and customs all its own, and as interest
ing characters can be found on the shores
Of the fishing fields as can be found in
any part OF lue nltefl otdNeS.
SPONGE FISHING FIELDS.
The sponge fishing fields are three in
number. one off the southern coast Of
Florida, near Key West, another north
Of Tampa, near Tarpon Springs, and a
third near Apalachicola. OF the three
the Key West grounds are by far the
most productive, the Tarpon Springs
grounds having the next largest yield,
Apalachicola coming third, with crop
that can almost be disregarded. The eX-
act area Of the fields is not known, but
about 300 square miles have been fished
over for years. The ground is all covered
with what might be called shallow water,
nowhere reaching a depth Of over fifty
two feet, as that is the limit at which,
from boats, the fishermen have found it
possible, or profitable, to work. 1t is
with the intention Of finding out whether
there are good sponges to be found at a
lower depth, or If there are other sponge |
fields that can be fished that the United |
States Fish Commission has sent the 1
Fish Hawk into the district, under James |
A. Smith. mate of the United States |
Navy, TO make an investigation. The /
work was begun last December and is /
sun going on, partial reports being sent /
to the Commission, with specimens for |
investigation every few months.
A monograph upon the nature of /
sponges has been written by Hugh NJ. |
Smith assistant in charge Of inquiry re- |
specting food fishes in the United States !
Fish Commission. in which he gives sue
cintly many facts in regard to the nature !
of spOnges. Speaking on this subject he |
says:
although for many years the status
of sponges-whether animal or vegeta- |
ble-was in dispute, the time has long |
since passed when the right Of the |
spOnges TO be placed in the animal king /
dom was established. Even the proprie- /
ty Of assigning the sponges to d position /
higher than the lowest animals-the pro- /
put either IN e sub-kingdom of their own /
(Poriferal or in a sub-kingdom (Coelen- /
terataD with the cOrals, gOrgOnians, sea- |
feathers, 1elly-hshes, etc.
The sponge in a natural state IS a very !
difterent-lOoking object from what we
see In commerce. The entire surface IS /
covered with a thin, Shiny skin, usually |
Of a dark color perforated to correspond |
with the apertuTes Of the canals. The !
sponge Of commerce is In reality only |
only the home or the skeleton of
sponge. The composition of this skele- /
ton varies in the different kinds Of |
sponges. but In the commercial grades il |
consists Of interviewer horny hbres, |
among and supporting which are Spiculae |
Of siliceous matter in greater or less |
numbers and having variety Of forms. |
The Gbres consist of a network Of hbrils |
the commercial quality Of d given sponge. /
The horny framework Is perforated eX-
ternally by very many minute pores and !
by less number Of larger openings.
These are parts Of an interesting double |
canal system, an external and an inter
nal, or a centripetai and a centrifugal.
At the smaller openings on the sponge
surface, channels begin which lead into
dilated spaces (sacs or ampullae); in |
these, IN turn. channels arise which |
eventually terminate in the large open |
ings Ccraters or oscuia). Through these |
channels or canals definite currents are l
constantly maintained which are essen |
tial TO the existence Of the sponge. The |
enter through the small apertures |
and emerge through the large ones.
The active part Of the sponge-that is. |
the part concerned in nutrition and 1
Rrowth-is n soft. heshy mass partly hill |
ing the meshes and lining the canals II 1
functlons-sone concerned in the forma- |
tiOn Of the framework, some IN digestion. /
some IN reproduction Lining the dilated /
spaces into which the affcrent canals |
lead are cells surmounted by whip-like |
processes fciliat, the motion Of these I
processes produces and maintains the wa |
ter currents, which carry the minute 1
food products TO the digestive cells in the |
same cavities
Sponges multiply by the union Of sexual /
products, certain cells Of the HesbV
pulp assuming the character Of ova and /
others that OF spermatozoa. Fertilization
takes place within the sponge The fer
tilted eggs, which should now be called |
larvae pass out with the currents OF |
water; ana. being provided with ella
swim actively for a while like larvaI |
oysters. IN a comparatively short time /
proDably IN tWenty-four 10 forty-eight
hours, they settle and become attached |
10 some suitable surface, where they Ia |
time develop into mature sponges"
CHARACTER OF THE SPONGE FLEET
The fishermen Of Florida. however have
heard nothing Of these new ideas promul-