The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-04-26
SPONGE BEDS FOUND OFF HONDURAS What a Funny Fish It Is; Has It's Own Peculiar
 Habitat

Where do all the sponges come from? From the sea, of course, but very few people know just how or where they are gathered, and that their habitat is restricted to very few profitable fishing districts. Like oys- ters, sponges don't travel about of their own accord, and they must be caught where they grow. As the demand con- stantly increases and the older fishing areas are being depleted, newly dis covered grounds are of great import ance and are eagerly sought.
 news bulletin in the Monthly Bulle- tin of the Pan American Union, Wash tngton, D. C., states that recently shipment of 5000 sponges of a fine grade arrived at Mobile from the coast of Honduras. The fact that this coast has extensive sponge fishing possibil- ities had been either practically un- known or ignored until Greek sponge fisher from the Mediterranean sea hap pened along during the latter part of last year. With about three weeks fish ing he gathered enough for the ship ment alluded to and now Honduras Is going to add another product to it's oth- CT numerous industries.
 Sponge fishing is a rather unique oc cupatfon, and the term fishing is not much of a misnomer. Most of them are still caught with hooks, notwithstand- ing the fact that the improvement in diving apparatus has made their gath ering easier. They thrive only in the salt water of the sea, and the best known districts are in the Mediter- ranean sea. the Caribbean sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and waters contiguous to | these Those of the Mediterranean are the oldest, and produce about half in value, though not in quantity, of the worlds supply.
 | To persons who know sponges only as they appear ready for sale and use, the animal it comes from the sea would be unrecognizable It is a solid looking, rather flimsy. fleshy body,
 varying in color from light grayish
 yellow through range of browns to
 black, and in form either cup shaped,
 spheroidal or cake-shaped according to l the species. its age or the environment l In which 1t grew. In general in ap-
 pearance and conscience and the man
 ner in which it cuts with knife, a living sheeps-wool sponge Is not un- like a piece of beef liver, perforated
 with holes and canals. The sponge of
 the markets is merely the skeleton, the
 supporting framework which gives
 strength and form to the soft gelatin
 ous tissues of the living animal.
 l Concerning the life histories of com
 mercial sponges, but little Is known. In | some species, aI least, the sexes are separate, the female greatly preponder-
 ating, and the young are produced
 mainly if not solely from eggs. The young are, for a time, minute free
 swimming organisms, which may be carried considerable distances by the currents before they at last settle down I for a permanent attachment. usually 1 on natural rocky bars near the coast The old method of gathering the :! sponge was to wade into the shallow i waters and pull up the growth by hand | Later the sponge hook. a two or three tined short hook attached to long l pole was introduced. and deeper water
 could be fished The fisherman in his | boat closely scanned the bottom of the
 water for sponges, tearing them loose
 and depositing them in the boat by means of this hook. To overcome the 1 difficulty of seeing the bottom because l of the ripples on the surface of the wa ter, the Sponge glass;" or water tel
 escope'' was introduced about 1870 This is merely an ordinary pail with
 glass bottom. The device. when placed with its glass bottom beneath the sur face of the water, does away with the | ripples and also operates by dispellins
 reflection, and to heighten the eff ciency the hooker usually wears a large | straw hat. which cuts off large DOT ton of the direct light when his head lis thrust into the mouth of the bucket By this means the bottom may some times be seen in clear water to depth of 50 feet. Two men are re uuired to each boat. the hooker ant the sculler. and considerable skill i. required to prevent mutilation in tear ing up the sponges. In 1895 the Mediter lranean method of sponging with div. | ing apparatus was introduced ant used successfully in American water. and now many of the Greek types O
 boats. equipped with gasoline engines are being used and the yield per mar
 has greatly increased. American spong, Fisheries now produce about 100000 hounds annually, valued at something over s1 100000.