Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1911-09-23

ization
sponge life does not thrive in fresh water
vi the food of the sponges practically nothing Is
hno"h' mat 1t is taken in through the canal
system and that 1t must be in a finely divided
state is practically certain but of what consists
is not known. They appear to Rave but few
natural enemies. The socalled roots of
sponges perform no other purpose than that of
anchorage The rate of growth of the sponge
under natural. undisturbed conditions is also a
matter of uncertainty, but it is estimated that
the average 6inch sponge is probably only four
years old
The industry in the Americas is most i'm.
portant one. The fisheries as at present devel
oped are almost entirely restricted to the Carib-
bean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico with its con-
tiguous waters. AS early as 1922 the inhabitants
or Key West Florida learned, from specimens
thrown up on the beaches Of the presence of
several species of useful sponges For some time
they were in limited domestic use among the in
habitants, but not until 1S49 was a cargo sent
to New York. Up to this time the entire sponge
supply Of the United States was derived from the
Mediterranean, though Of later years a few
sponges come from the Bahamas While sponge
fishing in the Americas is rather a modern in
dustry, it produces more than twothrds Of the
worlds supply in weight; but the fisheries of the
Mediterranean now produce about one-half Of the
worlds supply in value An idea of the number
of sponges produced by the fisheries Of the Amer
icas perhaps best be grasped if 1t is realized
Jndt ldsI year crop or dry SpOngeS weighed
100000 pounds and each pound is capable
of absorbing IA pints of water, is will be seen
that the total crop of the Americas could absorb
100000 gallons. Nor should the annual vaua-
ton of this product be lost sight Of During the
last year there produced in the Americas
sponges valued at s1500,000 The two places
where sponge fishing is best studied in the Amer
icas are at Tarpon Springs, Florida and at Bata-
baro, the southern coast of Cuba.
On the Florida coast there are two wedefned
sponge regions. The Key grounds on the east,
consisting of a chain Of keys starting from the
mainland Miami and extending in the shape
OF q horn far into the Gulf of Mexico; and the
Bay grounds the west, also extending into the
Gulf of Mexico The Bay grounds which for
merly held a secondary position commercially,
yield practically the entire production of
Florida sponges and by far the most prolific
in the Americas. The Atlantic side Of these re-
gions is not adapted to the propagation of this
animal because Of the depth and low tempera-
ture of the waters and the frequent disturbances
Of hurricanes. These valuable sponge grounds
have been overfished in and out Of season to
such an extent that congress found it necessary
to enact a stringent law for the protection and
conservation of this industry. This law prohibits
divers from working between the 1st of May and
the 1st of October In waters less than so feet
deep, and vessels of the revenue cutter service
patrol the Florida waters today to that this
law is enforced While the sponging areas of
Batabano, Cuba. and the Tarpon Springs, Flor
Ida fguratively within a stones throw of
each other yet the methods of gathering in this
interesting animal at these points are entirely
different.
In Florida the old method of gathering the
sponge to wade into the shallow waters and
pull Up the growth by hand. Later the sponge
hook introduced. This a two-tined short
hook attached to pole of moderate length; a
third tine was added to this implement after a
while. with the introduction of the sponge hook
deeper water was explored. The fisherman stand
ing in his boat closely scanned the bottom OF the
water fw sponges, tearing them loose with the