NOTES ON THE FLORIDA SPONGE FISHERY IN 1899. 
By HUGH M. SMITH. 
The sponge fishery of Florida between January 1 and December 31, 1899, pre- 
sented a number of important features. In view of the great interest which has 
recently been manifested in this branch of our fisheries, and in order to bring up to 
date the published records of the industry, the following notes are published. The 
statistics for 1899, together with other information for that year, have been furnished 
by Mr. John K. Cheney, of Tarpon Springs, Florida, a leading buyer and packer of 
Florida sponges. 
Key West and Tarpon Springs are now the only ports at which the cargoes of 
sponges are discharged and sold. At the former place in 1899 there were eight 
purchasing firms and at the latter six, two firms being represented at both places. 
Key West is the headquarters of a large fleet of vessels and boats employed in 
sponging about the Keys and on the grounds off the west side of Florida, and is the 
exclusive market for the sponges taken on the southern and eastern coasts, although 
receiving a good proportion of the crop from the grounds to the northward. 
Tarpon Springs is very conveniently located in the proximity of the important 
grounds off Rock Island and Anclote Keys, from which the largest quantity and best 
quality of sheepswool sponges come; and the prominence of the place as a sponge 
center has been increasing from year to year. In a report on the fisheries of Florida 
transmitted to Congress by the U. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries in January, 
1897, it was stated : 
Tlie sponge industry of Tarpon Springs (or Anclote) is more extensive than that of any other 
place on the Florida coast except Key West. The recent increase in the business has been note- 
worthy, and it seems probable that the favorable position of the place with reference to the sponge- 
grounds will result in a still further development of the industry, which will make Tarpon Springs 
a formidable rival of Key West. 
In 1895 the value of the sponges purchased at Tarpon Springs was only $60,000, 
or less than 15 per cent of the total value of the sponge crop of that year, while in 
1899 the Tarpon Springs trade amounted to over $230,000, or more than 6ft per cent of 
the aggregate value of the output. 
The 1899 crop of sheepswool sponges on the Rock Island grounds was very large, 
exceeding the output of any season for quite a number of years. The sponges were, 
furthermore, of unusually large size. The explanation of the large catch is that clear 
water prevailed for a long time in localities where for several years the operations had 
been curtailed by turbid water and where, as a consequence, the sponges had been per- 
mitted to grow and multiply with little molestation. On the “spring trip’* to these 
grounds many sponges weighing 2 to 3 pounds each were taken, and it is reported that 
14S 
