478 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
They occur about the shores of the numerous islands of the Istrian and Dal- 
matian coasts south of Trieste in a depth of water not exceeding 10 fathoms. 
According to Faber, the toilet sponge comes from the vicinity of the islands 
of Incoronata and Zara Vecchia, the zimocca sponge is confined mostly to the 
coast of Istria, while the honeycomb sponge is generally distributed along the 
coast. ‘The honeycomb or horse sponges of the Adriatic are rather brittle and 
inferior to those from other localities. The fishery employs from about 150 to 
200 men, who fish from small boats by means of harpoons and tongs during the 
good weather between March and October. The average catch per boat manned 
by two men is said by Faber to be about 300 to 400 pounds per year, the total 
yield being about 32,000 pounds, worth about $10,000. 
In 1902 about 11,000 pounds of sponges of good quality, valued at from 
$1.80 to $2.30 per pound, were taken in theGulfof Taranto. This small fishery 
is carried on mainly by Italians, but in 1901 seven Greek boats, manned by 28 
men, took about 1,500 pounds of sponges, which were marketed in Greece at 
about $1.30 per pound. 
FEGEAN SEA AND ASIA MINOR. 
The sponge beds about the Greek and Turkish islands of the Archipelago 
and along the coast of Asia Minor have been important from ancient times and 
have produced a race of bold and hardy fishermen, who have gradually extended 
their operations into all parts of the Mediterranean and within the last few years 
to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. 
The beds are scattered generally over the A’gean, in the Gulf of Salonica, 
the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmora, and the Bosphorus, but the principal centers 
of the fishery are in the Cyclades and Sporades, about the islands of Rhodes, Cos, 
Symi, Calymnos, Samos, Patmos, Hydra, Kharki, Kramihdi, Agina, and Crete. 
In these waters the sponges are taken by naked diving, the harpoon, the 
dredge, and the scaphander. The first two methods are the older, the last two 
having been adopted at a comparatively recent date. The fishery with the scap- 
hander is now prohibited in the waters of Samos and Crete, and the advisability 
of expelling it from the waters of the Cyclades has been the subject of animated 
though futile debate in the Greek Parliament. 
The sponge beds of this entire region are much less prolific than formerly, 
and much of the blame is ascribed to the diving machine. Many of the best 
sponges are now found in crevices, caves, and under overhanging rocks which 
abound along the shores of the islands of the A‘gean, and being inaccessible to 
harpoons and dredges are taken only by the divers, especially those not using 
the diving dress. These sponges are generally denser and finer than those more 
directly exposed to the light. 
