1940 
Miller, E. M. (1940) Mortality of fishes due to cold on the southeast Florida coast, 1940. 
Ecology . 21(3):420-21. 
There was a killing cold period in South Florida January 27 - 29, 1940. Temperature 
low recorded at Miami was 36°F, at Elliott Key, 38°F, and at Key West, 50°F. First 
hand observations were made by the author at Miami and Key Largo; and reports from 
reliable fishermen were taken for the Key Largo - Key West portion of the area. Many 
fish were observed to be stunned or killed and estimates were attempted as to relative 
numbers affected. The list of the fish species affected may have been prejudiced by 
reports of fishermen who were interested in collecting only the stunned specimens 
having some food or commercial value. Nearly 1 million pounds of stunned but good 
specimens were sold during this period from Key Largo to Key West. Species reported 
were bonefish, moonfish, gray snapper, grunts, porgie, mullet, and jacks. 
1940 - 1977 
Stevely, J. M., J. C. Thompson, and R. E. Warner (1978) The biology and utilization of 
Florida's commercial sponges. Florida Sea Grant Tech, paper 8. Florida Sea Grant College 
Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. 45 pp. 
Since the time of the Ancient Greeks man has recognized the usefulness of the natural 
sponge. Because of their ability to absorb large amounts of water, compressable 
nature, and durability, sponges have been used for a wide variety of tasks ranging from 
washing dishes to packing instrument panels in rockets. Up until the 1940's the sponge 
fishery was one of the most valuable fisheries in Florida. However, a combination of 
disease, heavy harvesting pressure, and the introduction of synthetic sponges resulted 
in reduction of the industry to a small fraction of its former importance. Production in 
the Tarpon Springs area, the traditional center for sponging in Florida, has declined to 
extremely low levels of harvesting activity. Dade County has emerged as the center of 
the existing sponge industry. Persistence of low level sponging activities in Florida for 
the last 30 yrs indicates that the sponge industry, as it is currently structured, will 
probably not return to former production levels without specific kinds of help. This 
paper reviews the sponge fishery from several points of view, utilizing data from 
scientific literature, state and federal fishery statistics, commercial fishermen, and 
sponge processors and discusses the extent of available biological information, the 
present status of the resource, and future potential. 
1940 - 1978 
Tilmant, J. T. (1989) A history and an overview of recent trends in the fisheries of Florida 
Bay. Bull. Mar. Sci. . 44(1):3-33. 
This paper presents a historical review and description of the fisheries of the Florida 
Bay. Documented interest in the fishery resources of Florida Bay dates from the 
earliest accounts of human activity. However, prior to the 1940's, fishing activities 
were largely subsistence oriented, providing only supplemental family income. The 
first large-scale directed fishery was for striped mullet which provided the primary 
economic support of the historic Flamingo fishing village in the 1920's. Increased 
development of south Florida, improved transportation, and population growth all led to 
increased sport fishing activities during the 1940‘s and 1950's, which increased the 
development of the commercial silver mullet and live shrimp bait fisheries. By the 
early 1970's, there were an estimated 25,000 recreational fishing trips a year to 
Florida Bay. Commercial activities reached a peak between 1977 and 1978 when over 
350 individuals held permits to guide or fish commercially using nets, hook-and-line, or 
traps. Concern for the conservation of Florida Bay's marine resources quickly followed 
the explosion of commercial and recreational use occurring in the late 1940's. Florida 
Bay was added to Everglades National Park in 1950 and, in 1951, the first special 
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