58 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



practicable, sponges of the same grade and size are bunched together. 

 In order to display them to the best advantage they are dampened 

 and laid out on the sponge wharf, where they may be critically 

 examined by the buyers. 



The method of selling is rather unique. The auction is carried on 

 in comparative silence, as the buyers are men of experience and 

 require no advice as to the value of the various lots of sponges. The 

 hour before the sale is spent by the buyers in examining the mer- 

 chandise and making note of the highest price they will pay per 

 bunch for each of the various lots. During the sale the auctioneer 

 announces the number of bunches in the lot being offered and re- 

 ceives the offer of each bidder wntten on a small piece of folded 

 paper. The highest bidder is awarded the sponges without argu- 

 ment, providing the owner considers the amount sufficient. No more 

 ceremony enters into a $5,000 sale than in one of $5. The prices paid 

 for any one variety of sponge may vary considerably according to 

 quality and size. Selecting the extremes, the wide variation of prices 

 is illustrated from the following data collected at Key West on 

 January 21, 1920, during the morning's auction sale : 



Slieepswool sponges: One lot of 200 bunches, $1,427; one lot of 

 226 bunches, $1,587; one lot of 17 bunches, $12; one lot of 5 bunches, 

 $4. The best quality brought $7.13^ a bunch for a lot of 200 bunches, 

 while the most inferior brought only 70 cents a bunch for a lot of 17 

 bunches. A feature of the sale, aside from the several lots of fine 

 wool sponges, was the disposal of 9 very large wool sponges for $48, 

 or $5.33 a sponge. These sponges were truly as " large as a bushel 

 basket" and are now quite rare in the market. The highest price 

 paid for yellow sponges was 96 cents a bunch for a lot of 49, and the 

 lowest price was 56 cents a bunch for a lot of 48 bunches. Tlie only 

 lot of grass sponges (5 bunches) sold at 48 cents a buncn. 



After the dealers purchase the sponges they prepare them for the 

 market by trimming and shaping and by removing the remaining 

 foreign matter which the fishermen did not succeed in beating out. 

 The sponges are packed in burlap bales of 15, 30, 50, or 60 pounds 

 net weight, and in each bale is placed but one variety and as a rule 

 but one grade. Sponges that have large crab or coral holes and 

 that are badly torn or otherwise imperfect are cut into smaller 

 shapes known as " cuts." Those that have imperfections but do not 

 require cutting are termed " seconds," while the whole perfect speci- 

 mens are known as " forms." 



The production of sponges on the Florida beds has not kept pace 

 with the great demand, and the result is that the shallower grounds 

 have been greatly depleted and in places completely devastated. This 

 has necessitated fishing in deeper and deeper water and has forced 

 many of the fishermen to resort to different occupations. This con- 

 dition shows clearly that sponges should be allowed to propagate 

 under natural conditions, and that they should be fully protected 

 by law. 



In 1917 the State of Florida enacted a law requiring that the mini- 

 mum size of commercial sponges taken from State waters should be 

 not less than 5 inches in horizontal diameter. A few years prior 

 to that time the United States Government had enacted a similar law 

 with regard to sponges taken from waters imder its jurisdiction. 

 This law if rigidly enforced should prove beneficial to the sponge 



