Oceans Past: A Guide to Oceans Future

As Loren McClenachan explains, “despite efforts on the part of the Key West fishermen to limit the activity of divers, high levels of fishing continued. Over-fishing and scarcity fueled fighting among sponge fishermen, and the same over-fishing contributed to the rapid spread of disease throughout the region. When the first signs of disease appeared in 1938, the sponge population was severely stressed from over-fishing and few reserve populations remained. This disease ultimately reduced the remaining commercial sponge populations by up to 99%.”

In December 1938, the first signs of diseases in the sponges showed up and it spread to epidemic proportions. At the end of 1939, the yellow and vase sponges had suffered, nearly being entirely wiped out, while 70 per cent of the valuable sheepswool sponges had been eliminated from the Keys. Although overflowing fresh water and local pollution were both blamed, the culprit appeared to be a fungus-like filament, which started in a small area of the sponge and expanded until the entire sponge was consumed. By early 1940, the disease had made its way up the coast and Greek divers observed extensive sponge mortality as deep as 70 feet (12m). The remaining sponge fishermen in Florida were out of work by the end of 1940.

During the 1880’s, there were more than 2000 spongers, but in 1938, the local newspaper reported that only 40 men in Monroe County called themselves spongers, with only five working regularly: ‘Ben Felton, Nelson Spencer, William Spencer, James Thompson and John Spencer.’ The Key grounds had been considered exhausted at the turn of the century, and under continued pressure, its sponge banks were almost commercially extinct by the 1930s. While the immediate cause of sponge mortality was disease, the fishermen were far from blameless in the disappearance of the stock.

Evidence of over-fishing for sponges throughout Florida is prevalent, both in descriptive accounts and in fisheries statistics. In the early years of the fishery, large vessels in bay grounds had fished 30km to 50km from the shore. Divers had moved far offshore by 1938, some going up to 240km from the coast to find sponges. During the 1930s, the best sponges were found only at depths down to 120 feet (37m).

“The era of sponge fishing lasted less than a century, but it left its mark both on the culture of south Florida and the ecology of the reefs. People typically think of coral reef decline as beginning in the 1980s, but the collapse of the sponge populations in the 1930s shows that the unraveling of this ecosystem began decades earlier,” says Loren McClenachan.

‘Sponger Money Never Done’ was sung both in the Bahamas and Key West during the 19th century… Look in my trunk and see what’s there, sponger money, One hundred dollars was my share, sponger money, I’m gonna take away your woes, sponger money, I’m gonna buy you fine new clothes, sponger money. Then when we go out on the street, sponger money.