Stevely, J.M.; Sweat, D.E; Bert, T.M.; Sim-Smith, C.; Kelly, M. (2010). Commercial Bath Sponge (Spongia and Hippospongia) and Total Sponge Community Abundance and Biomass Estimates in the Florida Middle and Upper Keys, USA. in : Proceedings of the 62nd Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute November 10-14, 2008 Gosier, Guadeloupe, French West Indies. GCFI 62nd Annual Meeting. 62: 394-403.

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Stevely, J.M.; Sweat, D.E; Bert, T.M.; Sim-Smith, C.; Kelly, M.

2010

62: 394-403

Publication

Available for editors   [request]

Prior to World War II, the Caribbean bath sponge fishery was one of the most valuable fisheries in Florida. However, a major disease event in 1938 – 1939 and subsequent over-fishing almost completely eliminated the fishery. Although synthetic sponges have largely replaced natural sponges because of lower cost and reliability of supply, a world sponge trade still exists and sponges are still harvested in Florida, the Bahamas, and Cuba. Most sponges provide important habitat for a variety of organisms living within their internal canal-and-chamber systems. Sponges are able to filter large volumes of water and are very efficient in retaining small food particles to meet their nutritional requirements. Thus, their impact on the phytoplankton community could be substantial. Here, we address the need of resource managers for knowledge of the contribution of commercially valuable sponge species to the total sponge community in Florida Bay and the Gulf of Mexico side of the middle and upper Florida Keys to help them evaluate the potential ecological impacts of sponge harvesting. When the study was undertaken, the proportional contribution of .commercially harvested species to the total sponge community was not known. We assessed the numerical abundance and volumetric biomass of both commercial bath sponges and the total sponge community. Within our study area, the contribution of the two most important commercial species to total sponge community biomass was 1.3% based on numerical counts and 2.5% based on volumetric biomass. We concluded that if sponge harvesting is conducted in a sustainable manner, the ecological consequences of sponge harvesting should be relatively minor.

Caribbean region

Biodiversity, Taxonomic and ecological diversity

Porifera

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