﻿248 
  REPORT 
  OF 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  [32] 
  

  

  of 
  the 
  fishermen 
  are 
  extended 
  over 
  a 
  nuieh 
  wider 
  region, 
  and 
  while 
  one 
  

   loeality 
  is 
  being 
  depleted 
  of 
  its 
  sponges 
  another 
  may 
  have 
  an 
  opportu- 
  

   nity 
  to 
  renew 
  its 
  crop. 
  It 
  is 
  the 
  opinion 
  of 
  sponge 
  dealers 
  and 
  fisber- 
  

   men 
  with 
  whom 
  I 
  conversed 
  at 
  Key 
  West 
  that 
  if 
  the 
  sponges 
  should 
  

   be 
  left 
  unmolested 
  for 
  a 
  year 
  they 
  would 
  be 
  quite 
  as 
  abundant 
  as 
  they 
  

   ever 
  were, 
  even 
  on 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  grounds 
  where 
  the 
  water 
  is 
  shallow. 
  

   The 
  fishermen 
  say 
  that 
  on 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  reefs, 
  where 
  the 
  depth 
  does 
  not 
  

   exceed 
  from 
  G 
  to 
  15 
  feet, 
  sponges 
  are 
  numerous, 
  but 
  of 
  small 
  size, 
  owing, 
  

   of 
  course, 
  to 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  before 
  they 
  have 
  time 
  to 
  grow 
  large 
  they 
  are 
  

   captured. 
  

  

  In 
  this 
  connection 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  well 
  to 
  mention 
  that 
  this 
  constant 
  har- 
  

   rowing 
  of 
  the 
  grounds, 
  while 
  it 
  certainly 
  has 
  some 
  undesirable 
  features, 
  

   is 
  nevertheless 
  believed 
  by 
  competent 
  judges 
  to 
  be 
  advantageous 
  in 
  im- 
  

   proving 
  the 
  quality 
  of 
  the 
  products 
  obtained. 
  It 
  is 
  asserted 
  that 
  a 
  bar 
  

   which 
  may 
  be 
  stripped 
  of 
  large 
  sponges 
  will 
  have 
  a 
  succeeding 
  crop* 
  

   much 
  finer 
  in 
  quality 
  than 
  those 
  first 
  taken. 
  No 
  special 
  reason 
  is 
  as- 
  

   signed 
  for 
  this, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  altogether 
  probable 
  that 
  it 
  may 
  easily 
  be 
  ex- 
  

   plained 
  by 
  those 
  familiar 
  with 
  the 
  localities 
  and 
  the 
  life 
  habits 
  of 
  sponges. 
  

  

  On 
  some 
  occasions, 
  and 
  particularly 
  in 
  1878 
  and 
  1880, 
  it 
  is 
  claimed 
  

   that 
  the 
  yield 
  of 
  the 
  spouge 
  grounds 
  has 
  been 
  seriously 
  affected 
  by 
  the 
  

   "poisoned 
  water" 
  which 
  appeared 
  oil' 
  the 
  Florida 
  coast, 
  and 
  proved 
  so 
  

   fatally 
  destructive 
  to 
  all 
  forms 
  of 
  marine 
  life, 
  sponges 
  included, 
  This 
  

   destruction 
  of 
  sponges 
  was 
  referred 
  to 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Ernest 
  Ingersoll 
  in 
  a 
  

   letter 
  to 
  Professor 
  Baird, 
  in 
  1881, 
  "On 
  the 
  fish 
  mortality 
  in 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  

   Mexico." 
  He 
  writes: 
  "In 
  regard 
  to 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  manifestations 
  of 
  this 
  

   deadly 
  influence 
  in 
  the 
  sea 
  during 
  1878, 
  Mr. 
  John 
  Brady, 
  jr., 
  an 
  intel- 
  

   ligent 
  captain, 
  told 
  me 
  that 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  year 
  was 
  January, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  

   ' 
  poisoned 
  water,' 
  to 
  which 
  universal 
  belief 
  credits 
  the 
  death 
  of 
  fishes, 
  

   could 
  easily 
  be 
  distinguished 
  from 
  the 
  clear 
  blue 
  of 
  the 
  pure 
  surround- 
  

   ing 
  element. 
  This 
  discolored 
  water 
  appeared 
  in 
  long 
  patches 
  or 
  

   •streaks,' 
  sometimes 
  100 
  yards 
  wide, 
  drifting 
  lengthwise 
  with 
  the 
  flow 
  

   of 
  the 
  tide. 
  The 
  earliest 
  indication 
  of 
  it 
  was 
  the 
  floating 
  up 
  of 
  vast 
  

   quantities 
  of 
  dead 
  sponges, 
  chiefly 
  • 
  loggerheads.' 
  All 
  those 
  seen 
  by 
  

   Mr. 
  Brady 
  were 
  less 
  than 
  40 
  miles 
  north 
  of 
  Key 
  West, 
  in 
  what 
  is 
  known 
  

   as 
  ' 
  The 
  Bay,' 
  nor 
  has 
  anything 
  of 
  the 
  sort 
  been 
  seen 
  at 
  any 
  time 
  outside 
  

   (/. 
  <\, 
  southward 
  or 
  eastward) 
  of 
  the 
  Florida 
  Beefs 
  ; 
  but 
  it 
  was 
  soon 
  dis- 
  

   covered 
  that 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  hitherto 
  profi 
  table 
  sponging 
  grounds 
  lying 
  oft* 
  

   the 
  coast 
  as 
  far 
  north 
  nearly 
  as 
  Cedar 
  Keys, 
  and 
  particularly 
  off 
  An- 
  

   cloieshad 
  been 
  ruined. 
  These 
  grounds 
  are 
  only 
  now 
  beginning 
  to 
  show 
  

   signs 
  of 
  reproductiveness 
  in 
  sponges. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  In 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  sponges, 
  

   only 
  a 
  few 
  of 
  other 
  specie's 
  than 
  the 
  loggerhead 
  would 
  be 
  seen 
  floating; 
  

   but 
  when 
  they 
  were 
  hooked 
  into, 
  all 
  were 
  found 
  dead, 
  though 
  still 
  cling- 
  

   ing 
  to 
  the 
  bottom. 
  When 
  a. 
  sponge 
  dies 
  naturally 
  it 
  gradually 
  becomes 
  

   white 
  at 
  its 
  base, 
  through 
  the 
  loss 
  of 
  its 
  sarcodal 
  matter, 
  but 
  all 
  these 
  

   were 
  observed 
  to 
  have 
  turned 
  black. 
  The 
  abandonment 
  of 
  these 
  spong- 
  

   ing 
  grounds 
  from 
  the 
  reefs 
  to 
  Cedar 
  Keys, 
  during 
  the 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  

  

  