NATIONAL FISHERY CONGRESS. 235 



nioiis in the belief that the law is wise and beneficial in principle and that it should 

 be enforced; and very many of the sponge fishermen entertain the snme opinion. 

 With this feeling prevailing among the sponge interests, the question very natu- 

 rally arises, Why do not the buyers and outfitters observe the law even if the Stair 

 regards it as a dead letter? The answer is that as long as such small sponges have 

 any market value the fishermen will take them to fill out their cargoes, especially 

 when large sponges are scarce. When sponges are once landed there is no reason for 

 buyers to refuse to take them, especially as they pay very little for them. 



The statement is confidently made that if the State officers in each sponging 

 center should announce that the law would be enforced against all vessels and boats 

 which sailed after the date of the notice, within six months a new order of things would 

 be firmly established, to the benefit of all concerned. 



The opinions of the fishermen themselves as to remedial measures should not 

 be given too much weight. Very many of them are aliens (Bahama negroes), and 

 few of them have any pecuniary interests at stake. The men owning vessels and 

 having capital invested in the sponge trade are those whose views are entitled to 

 consideration. 



The present legal minimum size of sponge is almost unanimously regarded as too 

 low by those pecuniarily interested. A sponge 4 inches in diameter across the top is 

 very small and has little market value. There is a general sentiment favorable to an 

 increase of the legal size to 5 inches, and some persons favor even a larger standard. 



In order to permit the recuperation of the exhausted grounds and prevent the 

 absolute depletion of beds, the prohibition of sponging on certain grounds for definite 

 periods has been suggested, and meets with general approbation. A sponge merchant 

 of Key West, who has devoted much attention to the subject, writes as follows 

 regarding this matter: 



Let nature do its work by allowing it sufficient time. This can be done by dividing the area of 

 the sponge-grounds at sea into squares each of 100 miles, more or less, and then allowing the fishermen 

 to gather sponges only in certain squares each season of the year. According to all reports, on some 

 grounds sponges grow much faster than on others. They have been noticed to grow to lull size inside 

 of four months in certain localities along this coast, while at other localities it takes young sponges 

 at least six months to grow to full si/e. This fact can be put to advantage by restricting sponge 

 gathering during several months on certain grounds, during which time the sponge fisherman can 

 gather sponges on the other parts of this coast. However, as it is necessary to the sponge fishermen 

 to have not only good weather, but also clear water, so as to enable them to see the bottom and to 

 locate the sponges, it may happen that when they are out on their expeditions they may meet with 

 muddy water on the unrestricted sponge-grounds of the season, while on the restricted grounds during 

 that season the water may be clear and just in condition to allow them to locate and to gather the 

 sponges. As the benefit that sponge fishermen could derive from the above restriction of certain 

 grounds during certain seasons of the year would soon be important and lasting, it seems to me that 

 no proper objections could be offered to the method. 



In a report 1 on "The Fish and Fisheries of the Coastal Waters of Florida/' the 

 United States Fish Commissioner suggests that sponging on the grounds of Biscayne 

 Bay and the Florida Keys be permitted only during a specified part of any period of 

 twelve months, and that fishing on either the Anclote or Rock Island grounds be 

 allowed only once in any period of twenty-four months, so arranged that the Anclote 



1 Senate Document No. 100, Fifty-fourth Congress, second session; also Report U. S. Fish Commis- 

 sion for 1896, pp. 263-342. 



