Sponge Cultivation in the Bahamas 



Choice of locality for growing good-quality 

 sponges is of particular importance. In some 

 cases in the Bahamas it was found that a 3- 

 inch sponge cutting would grow to 8 or 10 

 inches in size within 2 years; however, quality 

 of such sponges was extremely poor. The 

 best grade of sponges was produced by 3-inch 

 cuttings that increased to an 8-inch size in 

 3 years, a rate of about 1.6 inches per year. 



Several attempts at sponge cultivation have 

 been carried out in the Bahamas since the 

 early 1900's with some degree of success. 

 Wilfred Smith of Nassau had about 200,000 

 velvet and wool sponges "planted" just previous 

 to the 1938 disease that wiped out the entire 

 sponge industry in the Bahamas. The present 

 plantation at Pot Cay, Andros Island, Bahamas, 

 is being maintained by Henry Thorn, and 

 sponges are being grown successfully although 

 not on an active commercial basis. 



In an unpublished manuscript on sponge culti- 

 vation by W. Smith of Nassau, a complete out- 

 line is given for successful sponge cultivation 

 methods. With his permission a very brief 

 summary is given here. 



The "wild" sponges to be used as cuttings 

 were gathered by the crew of a small sloop 

 within a 30-mile radius of the plantation. The 

 sponges as gathered were stored or held in the 

 fish well of the sloop or in a fish scow, in 

 either case the sea water having free access to, 

 and circulation around, the sponges. A full load 

 to make 3,000 sponge cuttings could be collected 

 in about a week if the weather was favorable. 

 At the plantation the sponges were strung on 

 wires and fastened to the bottom for a week. 

 This method assured that only healthy sponges 

 were used in planting; the ones that died during 

 the holding period were cleaned for sale. 



The planting uritconsistedof four men work- 

 ing from three dinghies — the live sponges were 

 kept in the fish well of one dinghy, 8-inch flat 

 dry stones in the second, and the third was used 

 to ferry stones from the shore to the planting 

 unit. In planting, the sponges were cut with a 

 sharp knife into pieces about 3 inches across, 

 tied to the stones with a length of palmetto 



string made from splitting a palmetto palm 

 leaf and dropped overboard 3 feet apart 

 (fig. 9). Planting was on firm mud bottom in 

 about 6 feet of water where there was a good 

 but not excessive flow of the tide. It was also 

 important that the choice of locality be in an 

 area where the salinity of the water would never 

 fall below 32 %q , (see section on salinity 

 relationships for more detail). 



Within 2 weeks after planting the raw sur- 

 faces of the cuttings had healed over com- 

 pletely and turned black. Within 6 weeks the 

 cuttings had normal color. The second phase 

 in the growth was the withdrawal of living ma- 

 terial from the sharp corners of the cuttings, 

 the exposed skeletal material rotting and 

 sloughing away. By the end of the first 6- 

 month period the new sponge was rounded out 

 by new growth. 



Advantages and Disadvantages for 

 Cultivation 



There have been many advocates of sponge 

 cultivation. Some have even stated that cultiva- 

 tion was an absolute necessity for the survival 

 of the sponge industry. Such a strong opinion 

 can be understood because of the obvious dif- 

 ficulty in obtaining wild sponges, lack of 

 assurance in maintaining a constant supply, 

 the considerable difficulties that have been 

 encountered in trying to bring about an under- 

 standing of the need for sound conservation 

 practices, as well as the attractive assets 

 cultivation has been said to offer. The more 

 obvious advantages and disadvantages of sponge 

 cultivation are listed below. 



The major advantages would be: 



1. The planting operation is a relatively 

 simple one, the basic materials (sponge, 

 rock, and tying strings) can be gathered 

 in the area. This does not rule out the 

 possibility of using an improved base of 

 cast cement and a better grade of tying 

 material. 



2. Sponges can be concentrated in a small 

 area. In many places one cutting can be 

 placed per square yard. Loss of time in 

 harvesting is thus minimized. 



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