How Are Sponges Caught?
In the past quarter-century the sponge-fishery of the Florida coast has grown remarkably. Its headquarters is at Key West and several hundred sailing vessels are engaged in the industry. The fishing appliances consist of a small boat, a long hook, and a waterglass. The hook is in reality a three-pronged spear attached to a pole thirty-five feet long. In searching for sponge the fishers row about in the small boat. By holding the glass on the surface of the water the bottom is plainly seen and small objects are readily discerned. When a sponge is sighted the pole with the hook attached is shot down and the product deftly gathered. The boat-load is brought to the deck of the schooner, allowed to remain there a few hours, and then is carried down into the hold. On Friday nights, the fishing generally ends for the week, and the vessel sails for some spot on the neighboring coast where there are established crawls, or places for curing the catch. These crawls are about 8 x 10 feet square, their purpose being to hold the sponges while maceration and decomposition take place. The resulting refuse is carried off by the tide.
The fishermen go away for another catch and the sponges are left in the crawls until the end of the following week when a new cargo is brought in. The returning fishermen beat the decomposed sponges with clubs, removing the impurities. The water is squeezed out, then the sponges are allowed to dry on the ground.
After drying, the hold of the large vessel is loaded to the utmost with the product and the voyage to Key West is made. Buyers from New York look over the sponges, and make offers for entire cargoes. The fishermen dispose of their goods rapidly and sail away for more. The buyers store the sponges in some dry building, and cause them to be bleached by lime. A popular manner of bleaching is to wash the sponges thoroughly in water, and then to immerse them in diluted hydrochloric acid to dissolve any of the calcareous substance. Having again been washed they are placed in another bath of dilute hydrochloric acid to which six per cent. of hyposulphite of soda, dissolved in a little warm water, has been added. In this bath the sponges remain for twenty-four hours, or until the bleaching process is completed. After bleaching, the sponges are pressed until their bulk is greatly reduced; they are then baled, and shipped to New York, which is the distributing point for the entire Florida product.
Sponges are by far the most important fishery products of Florida, representing about one-third of the annual value of the fishing industry. In 1899, the yield was over 350,000 pounds of sponges of which the first value was nearly $400,000.