SPONGES, AND SPONGE FISHING 



61 



best sponges come from the Mediterranean. This region 

 annually produces about $2,000,000 worth of sponges, which 

 is more than half the value of the product of the sponge 

 fisheries of the world. Some sponges come from the Red 

 Sea, others from the Bahama Islands, West Indies, the west 

 coast of Florida and other places. The annual output from 

 the Florida sponge fisheries is valued at between $500,000 and 

 $600,000. The commercial sponges do not live in very deep 



FIG. 14. A common bath sponge. (Reduced.) 



water, being usually found not deeper than 200 feet. In shal- 

 low water they are dragged from the rocks by men in boats 

 who use long poles with hooks on the ends. Those growing in 

 deeper water are dredged up or brought up by divers. 



Many of the best sponge-fishing grounds have suffered very 

 severely from destructive methods of fishing and efforts are 

 now being made to protect these beds and to stock others. 

 Several methods of sponge culture have been tried, most of 



