474 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
Ihave not been able to obtain reliable data showing the quantity of sponges 
shipped in preceding years, but for 1900 to 1902, inclusive, the average annual 
value of the exports was about $460,000. It will be seen, therefore, that during 
the past four or five years there has been a steady shrinkage in the value of the 
catch and a still greater falling off in its quantity. Between 1903 and 1906 the 
quantity of sponges exported, and presumably the quantity fished, shrunk 
Over 30 per cent. 
Methods of the fishery.—After experiment with the scaphander and naked div- 
ing, both of which proved expensive or inefficient, and with a species of grapnel 
dragged over the bottom, the method of hooking, essentially similar to that 
practiced in Florida and the Bahamas, finally became established as the most 
satisfactory and effective and is now generally employed, though a few sponges 
are taken in the shoaler waters by wading. 
The first spongers were former Spanish sailors from the Balearic Islands, 
‘but there are now a number of Greeks and Cubans engaged in the fishery. The 
sponges are cleaned as in the United States and are then strung on cords, each 
holding a dozen sponges of uniform size or half that number of larger individuals. 
They are sold at auction by the merchant owning or outfitting the vessel 
instead of by the master, as in Florida, being hung up in festoons for inspection 
for some time before the sale. There is no regular sponge exchange, as at Nassau 
and more recently at Tarpon Springs, the sales being conducted in some con- 
venient coffee house, where the buyers congregate and hand in the bids on slips 
of paper, the highest bidder securing the lot. The method of stringing the 
sponges by sizes and count which is established by law is more systematic than 
that followed in Florida, and the buyer can more readily determine the value of 
the cargoes offered for sale. 
MINOR FISHERIES. 
Honduras.—Sponges are found along the entire coast of British Honduras, 
in the shallow waters about the numerous islands, rocks, and banks, but they 
are inferior in quality and not many are placed on the markets. The varieties 
found are sheepswool, velvet, and grass, the latter almost worthless. Many of 
the sheepswool, velvet, and grass sponges grow attached to staghorn corals and 
gorgonians, the removal of which leaves large holes penetrating the cured 
sponge and detracting from its value. Others are irregular from growing among 
marine growths or on the sides of rocks. The characteristics of some specimens, 
however, lead to the expectation that better grades will be found in deeper 
water. The velvet sponge in particular has some good qualities. 
The value of the exports of sponges to the United States during recent 
- years has been as follows: 1903, $1,218; 1904, $50; 1905, $915; 1906, $1,949, 
and 1907, $2,331. 
