FISHERIES OF KEY WEST. 57 



with his sponge hook. It is seldom that a fisherman working alone is 

 able to use the sponge glass. 



A few larger boats of the small schooner type engage in hooking. 

 Two or three dories are carried, each of which is manned by two 

 men. Fishing is done in water ranging from 12 to 30 feet in depth, 

 necessitating long poles that are difficult to handle. 



AVhen removing sponges from the bottom care must be taken not 

 to mutilate them. Sometimes they are firmly attached, and the 

 sponge hook either fails to dislodge them or tears them in such a way 

 that their value is materially reduced. The diver, since he gathers 

 them by hand, is able to take most of his sponges in perfect condition. 



The sponge as an article of commerce is merely the skeleton of the 

 living animal and is of very different appearance than when first 

 removed from the water. When first taken, it is a comparatively 

 heavy mass of living matter, most of the porousness of the market 

 sponge being filled with live animal tissue. The color of live com- 

 mercial sponges is usually dark brown or black. 



After the sponges have been taken aboard the deposit boat they 

 are laid on deck, where they undergo a three or four day exposure to 

 the air to kill all of the living tissue. In this state decomposition 

 sets in and some of the liquid organic matter drains away. It is 

 advantageous to shade the sponges, or the sun will quickly dry the 

 outside skin and render the subsequent cleaning more difficult. 

 After sufficient exposure the sponges are beaten with a short heavy 

 club to loosen the remaining skin, dead tissue, and foreign matter. 

 They are then strung on strong cord and thrown overboard, where 

 they are allowed to remain for several days to macerate by the action 

 of the tide. Another method of cleansing sponges by tide action is 

 to place them in crawls. Crawls are small inclosures made with 

 stakes set closely together in shallow water generally very near to 

 shore. " Usually on Friday night the vessels run in to the crawls, 

 and Saturday is spent in ' crawling ' the dead sponges of the recent 

 catch and cleaning those deposited on the Saturday previous." 

 (Moore.) 



With a dull knife the remaining particles of the outside skin are 

 scraped off, and with a stout club the small pieces of shell, coral, and 

 other matter, together with the remaining dead tissue, are pounded 

 out of the skeleton. Finally, water is taken up and squeezed through 

 them a number of times, and after being strung in bunches they are 

 ready for the auction market. 



Sheepswool sponges caught on the Key grounds are usually small 

 in size and of weak fiber as compared to those taken in the deeper 

 water of the bay grounds. Inferior sponges can be distinguished 

 readily by the red-brown color of the inner fiber. In some sponges 

 this reddening is found only at the root, but in the most inferior it 

 penetrates well into the body. The best quality sponges are of a 

 grayish hue throughout, although some may show a reddish spot at 

 the point of attachment to the ocean bed. The color itself is one of 

 the least important factors in determining the value of a sponge, 

 however. A fine sponge is determined by the following characteris- 

 tics : Size and shape, softness, fineness, toughness and durability, re- 

 siliency, and absorptiveness. 



The fishermen sell their catch by the bunch — a piece of cord 4f feet 

 in length being strung with sponges placed end to end. As far as 



