NATIONAL FISHERY CONGRESS. 
235 
mous 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 same 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 State 
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 annouuce 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 o 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 atteutiou 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 full 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 size. 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 Bock Island grounds be 
allowed only once in any period of twenty-four months, so arranged that the Anclote 
'Senate Document No. 100, Fifty-fourth Congress, second session; also Report U. S. Fish Commis- 
sion for 1896, pp. 263-342. 
