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THE ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE
SPONGE FISHERIES o o o om o oe

From BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES, Volume XXVIII, 1908

Proceedings of the Fourth International Fishery Congress : : Washington, 1908

ee ————————
WASHINGTON : : : : : : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : : : : : : 1910

Sof a i

BUREAU OF FISHERIES DOCUMENT NO. 668

Issued March, 1910

CEG i766 py

_ THE ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE SPONGE FISHERIES

,

ed

By Ch. Flégel
Member of the Austrian Fishery Society, Vienna —

&

Paper presented before the Fourth International Fishery Congress
held at Washington, U. S. A., September 22 to 28, 1908

B. B. F. 1908—33

CON WIEN WS.

Methods of sponge fishing

Evils of the scaphander

Attitude of the governments
Greece

514

THE ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE SPONGE FISHERIES.

&

By CH. FLEGEL,
Member of the Austrian Fishery Society, Vienna.

a

[Translated from the German.]

I have the honor to report to the Fourth International Fishery Congress
in Washington the unfortunate condition of the sponge divers of the Mediter-
ranean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. I do this with the well-founded hope that
I shall meet here the active sympathy these sufferers so badly need.

A condition of this sort, of course, never arises without a precedent abuse
or evil, and this rule is borne out in the sponge fisheries. The evil in this case
lay and lies in inordinate greed of gain, uncontrolled by law, unchecked by
any national regard for the general weal. Filled with this greed, which stops
at nothing, men found it good forty-two years ago to adopt for the fishing of
sponges the diving apparatus invented for quite other purposes. Although death
and illness have ensued, these people continue this abuse at the present time
so far as they are permitted. It is true that they did not succeed in winning
the whole world over to their method; they met rather with strong resistance
from their own compatriots, and thus a hot struggle began which has not yet
ended, though fortunately the evil has lost ground before the good.

While in the island of Kalymnos in 1892, I accidentally learned of the
sufferings of the sponge divers by asking a cripple the cause of his condition.
The evils and abuses disclosed by his reply and confirmed by subsequent inves-
tigations of the subject led me to dedicate myself to the cause without in the
least realizing that it would absorb years of my life.

The sponge fishermen everywhere lived in health and happiness so long
as they gathered sponges by means of the three time-honored methods, hygienic
and consistent with the public welfare; i. e., by means of diving naked, and by
fishing with the hook and the dragnet. Since the scaphander was introduced
in Greece and Turkey in 1866 numerous evils have befallen these formerly
well-conditioned fishing people. There have been frequent cases of sudden
and premature death, as well as of chronic diseases, worse than death, of youths

: 515

516 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES.

and men; a correspondingly large number of widows and orphans without
means of livelihood, with the worst of consequences to the high morality of
former times; fading girls on account of lack of marrying men; lack of work
for many on account of the scarcity of sponges due to the destructive fishing;
pauperism and emigration on account of the general misery—in short, a social
disintegration of the worst kind. The suffering people sought relief in vain
for twenty-six years, unable to make their protest heard or to obtain assistance
in their struggle. The various governments in whose power it lay to remedy
the evil were slow to recognize it, and it has been only by unremitting effort
that action has been secured. Most of the Mediterranean countries, and also
the United States, have within the past decade taken measures of prohibition
or relief, but there still remains in many localities much to be desired.

METHODS OF SPONGE FISHING.

Sponge fishing by the three good methods had been an industry for cen-
turies, especially in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea. Sponges were
found in great abundance before, both in shallow and deep waters, the fishermen,
especially the naked divers, obtaining a good profit. The rowers were taken
from neighboring localities, and youths and men, up to advanced age, were
engaged for naked diving or the manipulation of the five-pronged hook and
the dragnet. Whole fleets of small, excellent sailing vessels with naked divers
departed to the East every spring after Easter, to the harbors of Syria, to the
islands of Kalymnos, Syme, Chalke, and Kastelloriso; and other sailing fleets,
with the five-pronged hook and the dragnet, left Tschesmé, Halikarnass, Hydra,
Kranidion, Hermione, and Salamis, the village of Crappano in Dalmatia, the
harbors of Italy, Tunis, Florida, Cuba, and the Bahama Islands. Healthy and
jolly crews returned in September, from the coasts and the banks of the Medi-
terranean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, with a rich harvest of sponges to sell to
the local merchants for exportation.

The inhabitants of some of the islands and coasts of the Ai’gean Sea have
from early generations been excellent divers, and were skillful also with hook
and dragnet. The divers of Delos were famous in antiquity; those of Kalymnos
and Syme are so to-day.” .

The naked divers descend to the considerable depth of 75 meters and remain
under water from 11% to 2 minutes, afew even 21% to 234minutes. Ina quest by
the commander of a Russian gunboat in the harbor of Suda on August 10, 1907,
one of several divers proved to be the best of them by remaining under water
2 minutes and 5 seconds at a depth of 17 meters, moving about hurriedly. In

@ Herodotus mentions in Urania (chap. 8) the celebrated diver Skyllias of Skione. The sponge
is mentioned by Homer in the Odessey (song 22, verse 455) and by A’schylus in Agamemnon (verse
1,329).

ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE SPONGE FISHERIES, 517

order to reach bottom the more rapidly, the diver grasps in both hands a flat
block of white marble weighing from 14 to 16 kilograms, holds it in front of him,
and jumps from the side of the vessel head downward into the spray, while a
rope, passing through a hole in the stone and fastened also by means of a cord
to the right wrist of the diver, follows him into the sea. Scarce touching the
ground with his toes, the diver places the stone under his left arm, tears off the
large sponges, and places these ina net fastened to his neck and waist. The
crew of a sailing vessel with naked divers consists of 5 to 7 divers and 2 rowers.
The only danger threatening the naked diver is the attack of a shark, but he
does not consider this eventuality, as it is a very rare one.

The second mode of gathering sponges is by means of a fe hook
of iron, weighing from 2 to 21% kilograms and fixed to a handle 9 meters long.
Each bark of the #/gean Sea carries 4 to 6 hooks, 3 of which are bound together
and braced end to end by 2 smaller handles of 2 meters each, making a com-
bined length of 27 meters. For still greater depths, up to 45 meters, the sponge
fishermen of the A/gean Sea use a five-pronged hook 1 meter long and weighing
12 to 15 kilograms, which is let down ona rope. ‘The handles of the hooks of the
Italian fishermen and the fishermen of Crappano in Dalmatia reach a length of 18
meters, while those of the Italians were, some sixteen years ago, only from 4 to
5 meters, according to the ‘‘Condizioni della Marina Mercantile Italiana,” 1892.
The crews of hooking vessels number from 2 to 5 men, one manipulating the
hooks, the others rowing and assisting. [wo men per bark are found only
among the crews of Crappano, the crews in Italy, Tunis, Greece, and Turkey
numbering 3 to 5 men. ‘The sponge fishermen of Crappano, in order to be able
to see the bottom of the sea more easily, pour oil on the surface of the water to
render it smoother. A more practical and cheaper method is that of the fisher-
men of the A/gean Sea, who use for this purpose a special apparatus consisting of
a tin cylinder with a glass bottom. The smoothing of the surface by a slight
pressure of the glass bottom of the cylinder allows the eye to examine the bottom
of the sea better than does the use of oil.

The third method of gathering sponges is by means of the dragnet, which is
fastened to a rectangular frame 4 to 7 meters long and 0.35 to 0.45 meter high,
and is dragged by means of three ropes joined to a heavier rope. The part of
the frame lying on the ground is of iron and weighs 20 to 30 kilograms; the three
other parts are of wood. The net has a depth of about 3% metersand its meshes
are 8 centimeters square. A sailing vessel equipped with a net is of 4 to 4o tons,
and has a crew of 3 to 6 men, though the larger sailing vessels from Torre del
Greco have more. The dragnet takes sponges at a depth of 120 meters, although
not frequently. As it needs, for one thing, a flat sea bottom, and for another
wind for the sails and room for maneuvering, it is evident that this work takes

518 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES,

place far from the coast in deeper water—taking up, it is true, all that lies in its
path, but this is what would otherwise be left to die off, as no other means can
reach the depths at which the dragnet works. ‘The clamor against this appa-
ratus on the ground that it harms schooling fishes is an exaggeration, but some
countries, as the United States of America and Cyprus, have forbidden the use
of it. This is regrettable, for thousands of people live by this mode of sponge
fishing, without harm to themselves or others.

The fourth mode of sponge fishing is by means of the scaphander, or diver’s
suit, in which the sponge fisherman may descend to greater depths than the
naked diver, and may secure great numbers of sponges not otherwise obtainable.
The sailing vessel equipped with such an apparatus takes on board 4 to 10
divers and 8 to 12 sailors, and is always accompanied on long expeditions by a
second sailing vessel, to carry provisions and to receive the sponges. The equip-
ment of such an expedition for a summer’s cruise of seven to eight months along
the coasts of Africa costs 30,000 francs, that of a sailing vessel with naked divers
3,000 frances, that of a bark with the five-pronged hook 2,000, and of a sailing
vessel with the dragnet 1,500, with the exception of the big vessels of Torre del
Greco, the equipment of which is always more expensive.

EVILS OF THE SCAPHANDER.

The scaphander is in itself a splendid invention and very important and
useful in submarine work at small depths, but its abuse in sponge fishing is
equally harmful to the divers, the sponge grounds, and the economic welfare

of the state. The diver in the apparatus may work without risk at a depth
up to 16 meters, although accidents happen at smaller depths, as demonstrated
by practice and as stated by Professor Katsaras.2 But at the greater depths
of 16 to 75 meters, to which the unhappy diver is often forced, to descend, the
air, which is being driven down to him by two strong men by means of a pump,
is correspondingly compressed in order to withstand the pressure of the water,
which increases with every inch. This pressure hermetically fastens the rubber
garment to the lower extremities of the diver, driving the blood continously
toward the heart and head. The air breathed by the diver in the apparatus,
saturated with carbon, penetrates into the blood through the lungs, renders
it frothy and clogs the small vessels with bubbles, causing local obstruction
and impediment of the circulation.

The degree of harm depends upon the depth to which the diver descends
and the time he passes under water, then on secondary conditions, as colds, a
heavy meal before diving, and fatigue. The disease of the divers, which is of

@ Tn his excellent work ‘“‘Recherches cliniques et expérimentales sur les accidents survenant par
Vemploi des scaphandres,” Paris, 1890, p. 292-293.

ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 519

but one nature, is protean in its manifestations. It affects mostly the spinal
marrow and the brain, the most important life centers, but appears in the most
varied forms, as hemorrhages, stomach troubles, articular rheumatism, com-
plete or partial lameness, lameness of separate limbs, fainting, vertigo, vomiting,
'dumbness, deafness, madness, brain stroke, heart stroke, hemorrhages of the
brain, gangrene, loss of the finger nails, and frequently death, which is relief
to these unfortunates. It should also be observed that the offspring of these
divers have a weak constitution, especially of the nervous system. It is only
if the diver is slightly attacked by the disease and immediately discontinues
his work and subjects himself to treatment that it is possible for him to regain
his health. Otherwise he is doomed to die prematurely, or he limps through
life on crutches, or spends long years in bed covered with wounds. If the air-
supply tube of the apparatus is punctured the unfortunate diver is immediately
squeezed to death by the pressure of the terrible mass of water, which had
received until that moment the necessary counter pressure from the air labo-
riously pumped down. His head grows black and swells so that it can not be
pulled out of the metal helmet. It must, consequently, be detached from the
body and cut to pieces before being removed. The body is lowered to the
bottom of the sea in a sack weighted with stones, or it is buried on the coast.
Soon after another diver assumes the helmet which but shortly was covered with
the blood of his comrade, and goes to meet the same danger, like a gladiator
of ancient Rome.

Since the dreadful consequences of the abuse of the diving apparatus are
so evident, it is astounding that this business has spread and lasted so long,
and in spite of the protests of the population and of individual philanthropists.
Five conditions, however, explain partly the extraordinary duration of so
great an evil: (1) The abuse is practiced on the high seas and concerns poor
fishermen of distant, isolated localities, from which, moreover, they are absent
the greater part of the year. (2) The evil is not confined to one country,
but appears in all the sponge-bearing countries of the Mediterranean Sea and
some of the Gulf of Mexico; the sponge fishermen do not live in compact settle-
ments but dispersed on islands, peninsulas, and coastal strips of these two
great basins. Thus the question is an international one. (3) The owners
and partisans of diving apparatus endeavor to influence the governments,
the press, and public opinion by such means as concealing the terrible conse-
quences of this abuse or by excusing them. (4) There is a lack of official
or private statistics on the mortality and diseases of divers using the diving
apparatus and on the harm done by the apparatus to the sponges in respect
to their reproduction. (5) There is a lack of responsibility on the part of
harbor masters or captains for the death or illness of a diver; nor is there in

520 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES.

the countries where these divers live, i. e., in Greece and Turkey, any insurance
on their lives, or in case of illness due to the diving apparatus.

The diver is circumscribed by an evil circle from which he can be released

only by a beneficent law prohibiting this mode of sponge fishing. Greed,
bravado, and necessity sent the first divers into the scaphander at the instiga-
tion of the harbor masters and captains. Now, with premature or sudden
death or chronic disease before him, the ‘‘machinist” (unyamKes, the sponge
diver working in the machine, unyavy, is named by the Greek people) sells
his health and life as dearly as possible. He is paid for a summer season of
seven to eight months 2,000 to 3,500 francs. This, however, he soon spends, as
he is tortured by a craving for enjoyment, as a man condemned to death or
_ with thoughts of suicide. The high wages of the divers, moreover, are often
accompanied by rough treatment. They desert,and the harbor masters and
captains punish them for it as long as they can by the exaction of high per-
centage, of extraordinary returns in sponges, of inordinately high prices for the
provisions delivered to their families, or by pitilessly requiring them to dive to
too great depths, where they meet death or disease as a result.
f The sponge-fishing population of the AYgean Sea, Greeks and Albanians,
was a religious one without being fanatic or superstitious. They maintained
faithfully the ancient simple rites and customs, and their mode of life was hon-
orable and patriarchic. But what a change has come in all this since the abuse
of the diving apparatus shook to the depths the moral and material life of these
brave fishermen! Both those who use and those who do not use the diving
apparatus have fallen into misery, but the worse fate and the responsibility for
the evil has befallen the users. A victim of premature death, or of chronic dis-
eases worse than death, the unfortunate diver seeks in his affliction to forget his
terrible fate in amusement and profligacy to-day, for to-morrow leaving his aged
parents or his young wife and small children in misery; or still worse, he is left
to share this misery with them as a cripple; or, by the height of misfortune, he
limps through his native place or a foreign land as a beggar, if he is not so crip-
pled as to have to be carried in a cart. The harbor masters and captains, as
already stated, bear no responsibility for the frequent accidents, and with no
provisions of insurance for cases of disease and death, the entire burden of the
misfortune falls upon the family and the nearest relatives of the victim. The
sponge trade likewise has for years suffered from the high prices of the sponges,
a natural consequence of the destruction and scarcity caused by the diving
apparatus and by the expensive hire of the divers.

Specialists have for some time been studying and publishing the results of ‘

their observations on the frequent and varied diseases and the numerous cases
of death from working in compressed air, and more recently especially among

———=

ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 520

the sponge fishermen working in diving apparatus. Paul Bert, Guérard, Febvre,
Feltz, Bouchard, Petit, Couty, Chabaud, Vivenot, Schultze, Saeger, Leyden,
Pierre Marie, Rameaux, Bucquoy, Hermann von Schrétter, Kononoff, and
others have written on the general subject, and Paul Bert, Leroy do Méricourt,
Gal, Lampadarios, Kotsonopoulos, Parissis, Tetsis, Charpentier, Katsards,
Savvas, Livadds, and the Greek naval officer Mel4s have treated it with
especial reference to the divers. It will be to the purpose to cite some of these
writings. ;

Michael Katsaras, professor of nervous diseases at the University of Athens,
published in 1890 the already mentioned work on diseases of divers,* which were
not sufficiently considered by the governments of the interested countries.

Katsaras observed and described 62 cases of diseases of divers, and made
experiments with the diving apparatus on dogs. I refer to his book all those
who desire better acquaintance with the subject.. The celebrated scientist lives
in Syme, one of the principal seats of abuse of the diving apparatus, and is, con-
_ sequently, well acquainted with this evil.

Katsaras limits himself to purely scientific demonstrations without uttering
anycryofhorror. After having described all the forms of the diseases, he indicates
the means of curing the slighter ones. These treatments, however, demand so
much time that only persons in prosperous circumstances can take them, and
not divers weighted down by debts. Katsards gives the following advice as
to what the diver must do to avoid disease:

(1) Regulate the duration of the sojourn under water according to the depth,
as one hour at depths of 10 to 15 fathoms, one-quarter of an hour for depths of 15 to 20
fathoms, ten minutes in depths of 20 to 25 fathoms, five minutes in depths of 25 to 28
fathoms, 3 minutes in depths of 28 to 30 fathoms, and one minute in depths of 30 to
32 fathoms. :

(2) Rise very slowly, stopping for one minute after each 2 fathoms.

(3) Avoid consecutive diving by the same person.

(4) Do not dive too deep.

(5) Do not dive while afflicted with a cold.

(6) Have the intestines empty before diving, and eat only in the evening after the
completion of the work.

(7) Avoid fatigue.

What would become of pecuniary profit, which is the most important
consideration in each trade, if the seven prescriptions of Katsards were followed ?
Of these the most important is the fourth, and this according to his own words
it is not possible to follow. Katsards himself says:

Of these the fourth precaution can not be considered; to forbid the divers to descend

too deep would be to forbid them their trade, for a sufficient quantity of sponges can
not be found at small depths.

a“ Recherches cliniques et expérimentales sur les accidents survenant par l’emploi des scaphandres,”
Paris, 189Q.

522 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES.

This is the only passage, but a very important one, in Katsards’s work,
which indicates that the diving apparatus is likewise very harmful to the repro-
duction of sponges.

Katsards gives other specific advice:

I advise the affected divers to dive daily for two or three months to a depth of 8,
10, and 12 fathoms, staying under water from fifteen to thirty minutes; and to vary the
treatment by compressed air for one month by first cautiously eliminating the pressure,
and then resuming it again, ete. * * * The authorities of these sponge-fishing
islands should therefore establish small hospitals on the seacoast in order to introduce
the systematic treatment with compressed air by means of the diving apparatus. Each
small hospital ought to possess 2 or 3 apparatuses for this purpose, and other treatment
should be included.

Can anything be more obnoxious and futile than this system? Rendering
men ill in order to cure them, and recommending to them a trade with such
precautions that it must cost more than it would yield? Katsaras has likewise
failed to give statistics of deaths; he contents himself with far too mild a state-
ment when he says on page 2 ‘‘ No year goes by without at least ro dead.”

Katsards wrote as a clever physician, leaving others to apply his results.
These others are in the first place the authorities of the localities and countries
in which the sponge divers live, and in the second place the authorities of the
countries in which the abuse is practiced, and unfortunately they pay no atten-
tion to the work of the great scientist. It has therefore brought scarcely any
aid to the unfortunates to whose weal it is dedicated. Only by enforcing the
important logical deduction from the excellent work of Katsaras can the solution
of this question and the salvation of these unfortunates be brought about. The
diving apparatus in sponge fishing must be prohibited, a thing which has now
taken place in some countries, thanks to the pains we have taken.

ATTITUDE OF THE GOVERNMENTS.

As already stated, my work in behalf of the sponge divers began with my
visit to Kalymnos in 1892. My plan was to appeal to the governments of each
of the sponge-producing countries of the Mediterranean Sea, beginning with
the smaller and nearer ones and going to the larger and more distant, and
including countries without sponge fisheries, but with sponge beds, as well as
those with sponge fisheries with and without machine diving. According to
this programme, after Kalymnos came Samos, Crete, Cyprus, Egypt, Tunis,
Italy, Austria-Hungary, Greece, and Turkey, all of which except Tunis I visited
in person. It will be best to discuss first the conditions in Greece.

GREECE.

The sponge fishermen of Greece live at Kranidion, of 8,000 inhabitants,
and Hermione, of 2,000 inhabitants, on the Argolic Peninsula, at Hydra with

ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 523

7,000, Spetze with 6,000, A’gina with 8,000, and Salamis with 3,000 inhabitants;
with the exception of the A¢ginetes, they are all Albanese. There are no naked
divers in Greece; the sponge fishermen of Kranidion, Hermione, and Salamis
use the hook and the dragnet; those of Hydra use the diving apparatus, which
was introduced in Greece in 1866 by several men from Nauplia for the sponge
fishermen of the neighboring localities of Kranidion and Hermione. After these
machines had brought death to several men and had crippled others, also had
cost a great deal of money, they were voluntarily relinquished in the two latter
places. A new attempt to introduce them in Greece was made in 1882, however,
after they had been operating without interruption in Turkey. This occurred -
at Syme and was more successful financially, since it was in direct communi-
cation with the world market of Londor and especially because much less
heed was taken to spare the human victims which must be sacrificed if financial
success is to be obtained in this deadly trade.

The evil made thus great progress notwithstanding the protests of the
_ people from time to time, the terrible abuse growing at last into a recognized
industry. The fearful consequences were excused by citing that in other indus-
tries, as in mining, accidents happened likewise. It was not taken into account
that in the mines it is the natural conditions that bring about accidents, while
in sponge fishing with the diving apparatus men make deliberate choice of this
over the three safe modes of fishing, because by this means they can gain money
more rapidly, the sacrificing of human lives, the misery of their neighbors,
as well as the future of the sponge fishery being unheeded, and nobody held
responsible for the evil.

The Greek Government, however, does not ignore the cause of the sponge
divers. On the contrary, as appears from various official reports, the evils
of the business are well recognized.

The ministry of war published on April 12-24, 1896, a circular on the pre-
cautions to be taken by machine divers, and sends out every summer the dis-
patch boat Kreta, sometimes also a second war ship, to the coasts of Africa
from Derna to Sfax for the purpose of supervising the sponge fisheries, of
supplying the fishermen with drinking water, and of lending the necessary
assistance in cases of illness. This ministry also founded in April, 1904, at
the recommendation of Her Majesty Queen Olga of Greece, a hospital for
seriously diseased divers at Tripoli, the lighter affections to be treated on board
the Kreta; and it published in March, 1904, the very noteworthy report of
Constantine Savvas, member of the board of health, professor of hygiene at
the University of Athens, and physician to His Majesty King George of Greece,
on the diseases of the divers and remedy for the evils existing.

According to the data furnished by the Greek Naval Office and by private
individuals (Savvas, p. 10), Hydra sent out, during the summer season of 1903,

524 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES.

171 vessels with 1,370 sponge fishermen, of which craft 36 were sailing vessels
equipped with diving apparatus, 342 divers, and 667 sailors; 15 were sailing
vessels with the dragnet and 80 fishermen, and 70 were barks equipped with
hooks and 281 fishermen. Avgina sent out 4o sailing vessels with the diving
apparatus, of which 24 were accompanied by another sailing vessel, with 214
divers and 508 sailors. According to the harbor master of Spetze this island
put out in that year 8 sailing vessels with the diving apparatus, 43 divers, and
80 sailors. Kranidion sent out 52 barks carrying hooks, with 162 fishermen,
and 21 sailing vessels with the dragnet and 93 fishermen, moreover 2 vessels
with 24 sailors carrying supplies to the fishermen on the coast of Africa. The
number of 12 sailors on each of these vessels is extraordinarily large, and Her-
mione is not mentioned by Savvas. The total of the above figures is 318 vessels
with 2,494 men, of which 134 carried 599 divers and 1,173 sailors, 122 carried
hooks and 443 fishermen, 36 carried the dragnet and 173 fishermen, 24 were
escort of the diving vessels and had 82 sailors, and 2 were packet boats with 24
sailors. According to the commander of the Kreta, Stamatios Vuduris, the
fishermen flying the Greek flag gathered in 1902 120,000 to 130,000 oka, or
153,600 to 166,400 kilograms, of sponges, valued at 5 to 5% million drachmas.

From the data furnished by the Greek naval physician, George Sphinis,
who served on the Kreta from 1900 to 1903, Savvas gives the following statistics:

Under the eyes of the officers of the Kreta in 1900, 12 divers died, 228 fell slightly
ill, 34 fell seriously ill. In 1901, 396 fell ill, 34 were treated on the Kreta, and 5 of these
died. In 1902, 3 died on the Kreta, 232 fell slightly ill, and 23 gravely ill. In 1903,
56 sick were treated on the Kreta, of which 9 were completely cured, 17 improved to
such an extent that they could do some work, while 27 improved, but needed after
treatment. Three died.

Savvas observes:

The number of divers treated on the Kreta seems small in comparison with the
cases of illness in previous years. This is due to the fact that the captains of the sponge
vessels are distrustful toward the war-ship on account of its rigorous supervision and
would not report their sick, going only so far as to ask for remedies.

But do not the men asking for remedies avow that there is at least one
sick on board, and has not the commander of a war-ship the power to seek out
the sick on board the small vessel should he earnestly desire it?

Savvas says further that Paul Bert had found that about 30 Greek sponge
divers died every year. Katsards reduces this already inadequate figure to “at
least 10,’’ while Sphinis states that the number seen by him and the officers of
the Kreta were 12 in 1900, 4 in 1901, 3 in 1902, and 2 in 1904. Savvas, however,

observes, quoting official witnesses for corroboration, that ‘‘the number of deaths.

among the sponge divers is much larger.” And the commander of the Kreta,
Stamatios Vuduris, says that 60 divers had died at Bengazi and Derna in 1gor.
In the Great Desert there was found a sack containing the bodies of two divers.

a

ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 525

The commander of the Kreta in 1903, Petros Zotos, obtained under oath names
of 24 divers deceased in that year. This commander learned, moreover, from a
reliable source, that 40 other divers, whose names he could not get, had died.
He is of the opinion that of the 900 divers who work under the Greek flag in 140
scaphanders more than roo died within the period of one summer cruise (from
March to October), that the others all but a few “are either crippled already or
will soon be so and absolutely incapable of any other work.’’ My experience of
many years confirms the opinion of Captain Zotos.

Savvas republishes in his report the already mentioned circular of the
Greek Naval Office of April 12-24, 1896, on the precautions to be taken by the
divers. This had never been enforced, a fact which has made the Greek Gov-
ernment since 1900 detail a war-ship each summer for the protection and assist-
ance of the sponge fishermen. Savvas finds even this measure insufficient,
however, without a special law, observing that—

The measures of the rapidly succeeding governments have unfortunately but a very
small effect upon the sponge fishing conducted with diving machines. It is absolutely
necessary to take more effective and thorough measures, and such ought to be inaugu-
rated by a special law for the purpose of limiting the evil.

The measures recommended by Savvas are divided into three classes, (I)
financial, (II) administrative, and (II) sanitary.

I. The captains of sponge-fishing vessels borrow, at very high interest, a
considerable sum which is to be paid back to the lender at the end of six months.
In order to obtain sufficient sponges to be able to pay back the borrowed sum
with the interest and, moreover, to support themselves and their families, they
employ a comparatively small number of divers, who must work very hard and
risk every danger. The captains exhibit a change of attitude as the fishing
season advances. Until their indebtedness has been covered by the number of
sponges obtained, they spare the divers, but after this the latter are driven to
extremest effort for the captain’s personal gain before the end of the season
shall have come. Savvas proposes, accordingly, to decrease as much as possible
the borrowed sum and the interest, which amounts each year to from 24 to 36
percent. The prices of provisions for the crew and for the vessel’s supplies are
exorbitant, but the captain is obliged to accept; otherwise he does not obtain
the necessary loan. Savvas would, therefore, as a first financial measure, de-
crease the interest to 10 per cent and 12 per cent, and allow the captains to pur-
chase the provisions and other necessaries where most advantageous to them.
Savvas does not discuss the question of source of the capital for the enterprise,
whether to be supplied by banks or otherwise; but he deplores the advancing of
money by the captains to the divers, since the latter spend it in orgies which are
harmful, not only because the money is uselessly spent, but also because the
physique of the divers, weakened by dissipation, is much more readily the prey

526 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES.

of disease. By this advance, moreover, the diver is placed in complete subju-
gation to the captain, who makes him work even when he is ill. As a second
financial measure, Savvas would change the advance pay into a monthly salary.
As a third, he proposes the founding of a relief fund for the divers, to which all
captains and divers ought to contribute. From this fund assistance would be
given to the widows and orphans and to the sick and disabled divers. The
school for divers and the hospitals for the latter would likewise be maintained
from the proceeds of this fund.

II. The first administrative measure proposed by Savvas is the founding of
a diving school at Toros, Hydra, or at the navy-yard of Salamis. A diploma
from this school would be demanded for permission to follow the calling of diver
or to be a captain of a sponge-fishing vessel. Only when all the men are trained
will it be possible, according to Savvas, to place upon the captain the responsi-
bility for violating precautionary measures and not now when he acts in igno-
rance. The school would be under the direction of a naval officer, after the
latter, if possible, has visited the diving school of the Russian fleet in Cronstadt,
which is considered a model. A naval physician would likewise be detailed to
this school, after having undergone a course of special studies on this subject in
order to learn the elementary anatomical and sanitary knowledge in this domain.
He would be present at the practical exercises of the students, to give immediate
assistance in case of accident and to subject divers suffering from a chronic
disease to a regular treatment, and if possible a hospital would be erected in the
vicinity of the school. A course of one month should be sufficient training for
the divers.

Savvas’s second administrative measure is to subject the sponge-fishing
vessels to a thorough examination before their departure, not only to ascertain
the condition of the divers, but also to inspect the diving apparatus, the air
pump, the rubber tube, the clothes of the diver, the manometer. Men suffering
from lung and heart diseases should not be allowed to work as divers, nor should
neurasthenic, weak, or anzemic persons, those suffering from chronic diseases of
the ear and nose, those who are very lame, nor men under 20 and over 40 years
of age. This inspection ought to be held by a commission consisting of a naval
officer as president of the board, a naval physician, and a naval engineer, who
should go in person to the point from which the fleet of sponge-fishing vessels
is to take its departure. The board of inspectors should be authorized by a
special law to issue permit and ship’s papers to each vessel fulfilling the above-
mentioned conditions, which permit and papers are at present issued by the _
authorities of the port; also to prohibit, by force if necessary, the departure of
a vessel not fulfilling the conditions, or of a diver who does not possess the
qualifications demanded.

ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 527

The third administrative measure proposed by Savvas is to insure the
correctness of the ship’s papers, which heretofore have been supervised very
carelessly by the port authorities. The captain should be compelled to keep
his records with the greatest exactitude and to report each change in his crew
to the nearest port authorities or to the commander of the cruising war ship.
Upon returning to his native port, he must render account of the health of
_ each of his crew individually, as well as of deserters and deceased. The harbor

master must then make to the Naval Office a detailed report on the cruise.

Savvas recommends as a fourth administrative measure the supervision
of sponge fishing along the coast of Africa by one or two men-of-war, which
has been doné since 1900. Savvas urges, further, that the naval commanders
be empowered to take more active measures, to impose small fines for the viola-
tion of regulations, and even to deprive the captains of their permits.

As a fifth administrative measure Savvas recommends an exact regulation
of the duties of the captain and the master of the divers in regard to the latter,
as well as of the mode and duration of the work and an express definition of
the responsibility of the captain and the master for each violation of regulative’
measures, thus to prevent all excuses based on ignorance.

The sixth administrative measure is the imposition of heavy punishment
on the captain and the master for the violation of any regulation, and Savvas
cites articles 300, 301, and 310 of the Greek penal code and articles 222 and 230
of the German, in force in the diving service of the German fleet. He does not
deem the articles of the Greek penal code sufficient, however, and expresses
the opinion that they ought to be made more rigorous by new legislation apply-
ing especially to the diving business, for only then could a limit be put to the

requirements of the captains. The harbor masters and the commanders of
the supervising war vessels should have authority to impose punishments upon
. the guilty, for too much time would be necessary for action in such cases by
the court or by the Naval Office, and the effect of the punishment would be
weakened.

Ill. The following are the sanitary measures recommended by Savvas:

(1) Perfect health of the diver when entering upon his work.

(2) Slow descent to the depths of the sea.

(3) Regulation of the duration of the sojourn of the diver under water by
the depth, according to Katsaras.

(4) Slow ascent from the depth, according to Katsards, Silberstein, Méri-
court, and Kononoff. :

(5) Prohibition of continued diving by the satne person, quoting the
opinion of the inventor of the most popular diving apparatus, Denayrouze,
that the duration of work for a diver in this apparatus should never exceed

528 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES.

2% hours daily and, according to others, that the diver should dive but once
a day.

(6) Avoidance of diving during a cold or with a full stomach.

(7) Avoidance of fatigue, of use of liquor, of fasting.

(8) Presence of remedies and means for first aid on each vessel, as (a)
compressed-air treatment when the diver falls ill, a thing which Savvas himself
admits is impossible, since there is room for only one diving apparatus on each
vessel, and the latter serves for the work and not for curative purposes; (0)
breathing of compressed air; (c) establishment of hospitals on the African
coast and in Greece; such a hospital was founded in Tripoli in Aprii, 1904.

Savvas says in chapter 8, under the heading ‘‘ The result,” that about 2,600
men are engaged in sponge fishing in Greece alone, that among these there are
636 machine divers on 134 vessels with 1,218 sailors, that according to the
reports of the commanders of the Kreta at least 60 to 100 divers die each year,
and that so many fall ill that four-fifths of them are more or less severely crip-
pled, a fact that renders their work much more arduous or often completely
incapacitates them. The remaining sponge fishermen, of whom those using
the dragnet form the minority in Greece, while the naked divers form the
majority in Turkey and are the only ones in the other countries—these, Savvas
observes, suffer no harm. Why, then, does not Savvas state the conclusion
to which every impartial person must come, that the harmless modes of sponge
fishing should be encouraged and the harmful prohibited? He does imply
this conclusion in the following statement:

If the execution of these measures is for one reason or another impossible (and it is
impossible, for the profits, which are the principal incentive of every trade, would be
lost), then should the prohibition of machine diving be considered, not only for the
salvation of a large number of persons from death and disease, but also for the honor
and good name of the country.

Regard for the life and health of the divers and for the good name not
only of Greece but of all countries interested in the sponge fisheries, I share
fully with Savvas; but I am amazed at the time required by most theoreticians,
of whom Savvas is one, for recognition of the fact that no advance can be made
by the execution of even a part of his measures—that their enforcement imposes
the prohibition of machine diving. It is the same end at last, after all is said
and done, i. e., the actual prohibition of the scaphander.

While Professor Savvas was writing his report, the Naval Office detailed
in January, 1904, a board, consisting of 12 members, to which belonged Savvas
and deputies from Parliament from the sponge-fishing districts as well as naval .
officers, for the purpose ‘of working out a project of law to govern sponge fishing
with diving machines. The board finished its work within a month. ‘The
drafted law contains all that Savvas demands in his report, but has not been

ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 529

once brought up in the Chamber of Deputies during the four years that have
elapsed since then. It may be gathered hence that the partisans of the diving
machine, wishing not to be molested, know how to hinder the presentation of
the question before the Chamber, and without the vote of the Chamber the
execution of the measures is of course impossible. Thus, then, the well-meant
regulations are absolutely unimportant because they are impossible of execution!
and they are worthless and impossible of execution also because they cost more
than the industry yields—and this is the worst to be said about an industry.
This wretched business is profitable now because all responsibility, all burdens,
all the suffering of it, can be shifted and because the two countries where it
exists, Greece and Turkey, have indorsed it for forty-two years.

In January, 1907, the Greek Naval Office in Athens published the “ Guide
for Divers” by the naval physician, Dr. Spiridon Livadas, and the naval lieu-
tenant, Constantine Melas. By the wish of Her Majesty the Queen of Greece,
Livadas and Melas were detailed for a few weeks to the diving school of the
Russian fleet at Cronstadt, in order to familiarize themselves with the inno-
vations and improvements brought about in this work. ‘Their “Guide” does
not give any statistics of death in the sponge fisheries, but it reiterates the
advice already given by Katsards and Savvas; and it has a highly suggestive
title-page depicting a naked sponge fisherman lying on a bed in the hospital of
Tripoli, his body covered with wounds, himself one of the numerous victims
of the diving apparatus who died from gangrene after an illness of six
weeks. This title-page, the short description of the sufferings of this victim,
and the great number of precautions to be observed by the diver in order to
avoid the grave danger threatening his life and health, are likely to frighten
him, and thus this book renders a great service to the sponge fisheries. Not
otherwise, however, can it prove of great benefit to Greek divers, for there is
an enormous difference between the work of the divers in the navy, which is
of great usefulness and harms nobody, and that of the sponge divers, who have
to consider pecuniary remuneration and engage in WAGES which causes the
greatest harm to men and sponge resources.

Thus, as shown by the official reports quoted; - the fact that the Greek
Government maintains the hospital ship Krefa in the interests of the sponge
divers; by the fact that a hospital has been established at Tripoli at the insti-
gation of Her Majesty the Queen; by the issuance of circulars and regulations
from the Greek Ministry of War—by all these various actions the evils of machine
diving are acknowledged in Greece. - I have obtained the favorable consideration
of the King and the cordial sympathy and aid of the Queen in the cause of
these suffering subjects. The people themselves have given evidence of their
need and of their appreciation of efforts for their relief. But the logical and

B. B. F. 1908—34

530 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES.

hoped-for result, the suppression of the evil by entire prohibition of the diving
apparatus, is not yet accomplished.

KALYMNOS.

In Kalymnos results were at last obtained by the promulgation, in 1902, of
an irade from the Sultan, which in the extent of its prohibitions exceeded the
expectations of both factions interested. In execution the irade has, however,
been defective. Provision was not made for the confiscation of diving machines
nor for their exclusion from Turkish import and export. And in spite of the
prohibition, a considerable number of Greek and Turkish sponge divers worked
until lately in Turkish and Cretan waters without being prosecuted. They
contended that they worked in neutral waters, since they fished at a distance
of 3 maritime miles from the coast, where, according to them, everything was
free to everybody. This interpretation of the neutrality of waters is absolutely
arbitrary and sophistical, since it is the sponges that are here in question and
not the waters, and since the sponges, with the banks on which they grow,
even if 20, 30, and even more maritime miles from the coast, belong to particular
states, generally to the one whose coast is the nearest. But even if the owner
does not wish to protect his sponge banks or if he can not do it, as happened
with Crete, on account of the lack of a revenue cutter, the wrongdoers need by
no means be allowed to carry on illegal operations, even in neutral waters.
Civilized nations are solidary in this respect and do not overlook such crimi-
nality, as was shown in 1905, by the four protecting powers of Crete, Great
Britain, France, Italy, and Russia, and lately again by France in Cretan waters.
The sponge fishermen following the three older methods of fishing are naturally
displeased at the disregard of the prohibition, and there have been some dis-
orders on this account in Kalymnos and Syme.

SAMOS.

The Duchy of Samos possesses good sponge grounds, but no native sponge .

fishermen, and by reason of its small size would be of slight importance in the
sponge fisheries had it not been the first autonomic country to prohibit diving
machines. This prohibition took place in 1898, and in 1902 was revoked, but
in 1904 the law was again changed, prohibiting the diving machine and reper-
mitting the dragnet, which in the meantime had been prohibited for an interval.

CRETE.

There are no sponge fishermen in Crete, with the exception of a few who
allow themselves to be tempted to work on foreign sailing vessels in diving
apparatus. But there are excellent sponges there, especially on the coast of

‘

ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 531

the eastern prefecture (Lasithi) and the islands belonging to it. Since 1898,
the revenues obtained from licenses for sponge fishing fluctuated between 7,833
francs 40 centimes in 1903, and 26,360 francs in 1902. The naked divers and
those using the dragnet paid in 1907, up to November of that year, 230 franes
for each sailing vessel and since that date 250 frances, while the hook fishermen
paid 90 francs, now 1oo franes, for each bark. The working season in sponge
fishing is considered on Crete from March 1 until February 28. The Cretan
statistical data do not give, unfortunately, any information as to how many,
whence, or on how many vessels sponge fishermen arrive, how many of them
use the three proper modes of fishing, nor the quantity and value of the catch
of each.

The first action against machine diving on the sponge banks of Crete was
obtained in 1899, and consisted of a law of complete prohibition. ‘The sponge
beds flourished in consequence, and soon became a great temptation to the
greedy machine divers of Greece and Turkey, who sought repeatedly, from
1901 to 1907, to have the law repealed. Failing in this they circumvented it
by fishing secretly on the coasts of Crete on their return from the African banks,
and in 1905 enlisted even a few Cretans in this illegal enterprise. I at once
took steps in the matter, and had the satisfaction of seeing the four protecting
powers—Great Britain, France, Italy, and Russia—send their war ships to seize
the culprits. Unfortunately, however, proper punishment was not inflicted,
and the situation became an open scandal. In government circles it was
claimed that enforcement of the law was impossible because Crete owned no
revenue cutter. But there were guilty Cretans who could have been appre-
hended without any revenue cutter, and the license fees from the sponge fish-
eries would have built a revenue cutter long since. The contention between
the friends and opponents of the diving machines kept the question embarrass-
ingly alive to the Government and Parliament of Crete, and finally brought
about action in the fall of 1907, whereby a limited number (10) of diving machines
were permitted for ten years to a syndicate under certain specified conditions.
These conditions, however, were purposely made so difficult that no such syn-
dicate could be found, nor ever can. Another provision of the law was for the
payment of damages to the families of divers who died as a consequence of the
use of the scaphander. Thus the law has been saved; but the lack of a revenue
cutter in Crete is a disadvantage that cails for prompt remedy.

The cause of the sponge divers in Crete received a further signal support
in 1908, when the French Government, at the request of the Cretan Govern-
ment, ordered its war ship Faucon, stationed at Suda, to apprehend the sponge
divers fishing illegally in the waters of Hierapetra, which are under French
control. The Faucon captured 7 boats, with 80 men, from Kalymnos and
Syme. The remainder escaped in a heavy gale, and three were wrecked, with

eZ BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES.

a loss of 25 men. ‘The decisive action on this occasion of the Cretan Govern-
ment has greatly encouraged the opponents of the diving machine, and has
led to similar requests in regard to the sponge grounds of Turkey, Italy, Tunis,
Cyprus, and the Gulf of Mexico. In any event, the governments of Greece
and Turkey have before them the important duty, whether or not they forbid
the diving machine in their own territory, to prevent their own subjects from
violation of the laws of other countries. And such violation when it does occur
should be punished by confiscation of the ship’s papers for a year or more, and
forever in case of repeated offense.

It will be noted from the foregoing that the position of Crete in regard to
the sponge fisheries and her attitude in the present question is most important

and worthy of admiration.
CYPRUS.

Cyprus likewise has rich sponge banks but no native fishermen. The
harmless dragnet was long ago prohibited, but the diving machine was permitted
until 1901, when, the authorities having been enlisted against this abuse, a law
was obtained which remained in force for three years. In 1904 the partisans
of the apparatus succeeded in obtaining authority for a limited number of
diving machines, under pretext of work to be done in the harbor of Famagusta.
The naked divers and hookers were driven away by the conditions operating
to their hardship; and a plan for a colony of sponge fishermen, as in Egypt,
likewise came to nothing, naturally, since it of necessity involved the discon-
tinuance of machine diving. At the present time the Government of Cyprus
leases to the highest bidder the privilege of using six diving machines in one and
the other half of the waters alternately, a misstep which is the more astonishing
in the face of the wholesome example of near-by Egypt.

TUNIS.

The Regency of Tunis has extensive sponge banks, and numerous sponge
fishermen, about 1,500, on 400 barks equipped with hooks.’ A great number
besides come yearly from Italy, Greece, and Turkey. I lack statistics for
Tunis, however. At my solicitation the scaphander was prohibited in 1901, but
unfortunately, notwithstanding the apparatus is termed “engin destructeur” in
the language of the decree, enforcement of the prohibition has failed, through
intrigues of the opposing forces.

TURKEY.

Turkey has the most and the best sponge fishermen, but unfortunately
official statistics of the sponge fisheries are entirely lacking. The chief localities
are Kalymnos with 18,000 inhabitants, Syme with 20,000, Chalke with 6,000,

ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 533

Kastelloriso with 6,000, Halikarnass with 3,000, Tschesmé with 3,500, Aivali
with 20,000, Moschonisia with 3,000, and Marmara with 2,000, also villages and
cities of Syria. Before the introduction of the diving apparatus there were
some sponge fishermen also in the islands of Patmos, Leros, and Telos. In
Kalymnos, Syme, Chalke, and Kastelloriso all four kinds of fishing methods are
represented, in Halikarnass and Tschesmé, only the dragnet; in Aivali, Mos-
chonisia, and Marmora, only the diving apparatus, though in limited numbers;
in Syria there are only naked divers. The first six places and the villages of
Syria have always depended entirely upon sponge fishing for a livelihood. Since
the introduction of the diving machine there has been a marked emigration,
especially to Russia and the United States of America. The famous naked
divers, who have inherited this skill from many generations of forefathers and
have perfected it by practice, live at Kalymnos, Syme, Chalke, Kastelloriso, and
on the coast of Syria.

A law prohibiting the scaphander was promulgated in 1902, but is not

effectively enforced.
EGYPT.

I went to Egypt in 1901, after successful visits to Samos, Crete, Cyprus, and
Tunis. I encountered considerable opposition, but a beneficent law was at
length promulgated in the spring of 1902, to be followed in the autumn by a
similar decree for the whole Ottoman Empire. The Egyptian Government has
always shown great interest and care for its sponge fishermen, having founded
a colony for them near the excellent harbor of Marsa Matruh, 160 kilometers
west of Alexandria, and having also rigorously enforced the law by means of the
coast guard.

In 1906 a rich new bank, extending 110 miles from Abukir and having a
width of 1 to 3 miles in a depth of 20 to 60 meters, was discovered by some
Italian fishermen, who found sponges in their nets. This El Dorado, known as
the bank of Port Said, after a most successful cruise thither by a vessel from
Syme, attracted sponge fishermen from everywhere. The sponges were of the
finest quality, and conditions were most favorable, for the diving apparatus
was entirely excluded.

In 1908, however, word began to be circulated that the Egyptian Govern-
ment could not enforce its law outside the 3-mile limit. The sponge fishermen
following the three good methods had meantime begun to assemble near Marsa
Matruh, in Alexandria, where a fleet of 350 vessels with 3,000 men waited two
weeks for decision from the Egyptian Government. Requests and petitions
with thousands of signatures were of no avail. The advocates of the diving
machine proved the more powerful, although they possess legal rights only in
Greece. The Egyptian Government refused to assert control of the banks out-

534 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES.

side of the 3-mile limit, and the waiting sponge fishermen found themselves at
once in competition with vessels equipped with diving machines and armed with
rifles, revolvers, and sabers. A crew of naked divers from Kalymnos were fired
upon, and in response to complaint of the captain the Egyptian Government
apprehended 110 men with 9 diving machines 26 miles off the coast and brought
them to Port Said. Instead of prosecuting them, however, and inflicting the
punishment that was deserved; notwithstanding that arms and ammunition
were found on board their boat; notwithstanding also that they were Turkish
subjects and therefore liable to the laws of Turkey and Egypt against diving
machines, they were allowed to depart, after twenty-four hours, in full possession
of diving equipment, arms, and ammunition.

The hardship upon the original occupants of the sponge grounds was great.
After paying their fees of 8 to 4 Egyptian pounds (200 to 100 franes) for per-
mission to fish, they were driven away, and in Syria, whither they resorted,
they must pay an equal fee. The banks of Port Said are thus, moreover, left
at the mercy of the machine divers. I have appealed to the International
Life Saving Congress, held at Frankfort on the Main, and now urge the Inter-
national Fishery Congress at Washington to give support and sympathy to the
unfortunate sponge fishermen who have undergone such loss this season at
Port Said.

SPAIN, ALGERIA, AND MOROCCO.

Sponge fishing is not remunerative in Spain, Algeria, and Morocco on
account of lack of good sponges. Those to be found there are mostly funnel-
shaped, called elephant’s ears and simply ears by the Greek fishermen. Ten
sailing vessels worked in Spain in 1903 with diving apparatus, coming from
Kalymnos, Syme, and A%gina; in 1904 there were only two sailing vessels from
Kalymnos and none since then.

ITALY.

Official statistics of the sponge fisheries were attempted in Rome earlier
than in Athens, and the Italian Naval Office has for twenty years detailed a
small war vessel each summer for the supervision of sponge fishing in Italian
waters. The commanders of these vessels see to the maintenance of order,
give medical assistance and remedies to the diseased sponge fishermen, supply
them with drinking water, and send in reports to the Naval Office. Articles
based on these reports are there prepared for publication in the ‘Condizioni
della Marina Mercantile Italiana,’ published each year by the Ministry of -
Merchant Marine, in a section devoted to the sponge fisheries. We’ find in
these ‘“Condizioni’’ abundant material on the sponge trade as carried on in
Italy by natives and foreigners, and this material contains naturally some

ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 535

statistical data. The majority of the foreigners are machine divers on sailing
vessels flying the Greek and Ottoman flags, and the ‘‘ Condizioni”’ report regularly
cases of death, disease, and desertion among them. Since, however, the Greek
divers conceal their accidents and misdeeds from the Italian authorities, the
statistics are not very complete. In the summer of 1902 the Naval Office
promulgated a partial prohibition of the diving machines, regulating the depth
in order to prevent disease and death; but the enforcing of such partial pro-
hibition is very difficult, and thus this measure is quite insufficient in practice,
-as shown by the report of the ‘‘Condizioni” for the year 1907 for the cruise of
1905, which mentions four new cases of illness of Greek sponge divers.

According to the ‘“Condizioni”’ for 1906, there were in the Italian waters in
the year 1904, 309 Italian fishermen on 63 sailing vessels of 1,302 tons. The
total number of Italian sponge fishers for that year may, however, be computed
at 1,270 men on 200 sailing vessels. ‘The official statistics do not mention the
137 sailing vessels which departed for Tunis, nor the quantity and value of the
sponges gathered by them. According to the same source, there were in the
Italian waters 406 Greek fishermen on 37 sailing vessels, of which 110 on 22
sailing vessels from Kranidion were equipped with dragnet and 296 on 15
sailing vessels from A/gina carried diving apparatus. ‘The fishing grounds were
the extensive banks of Lampedusa and Pantellaria, where 36,864 kilograms of
sponges, valued at 615,781 francs, were gathered as follows: For the 309 Italians,
247,184 francs; for the Greeks, 368,597 francs, or for each Italian 800 and for
each Greek about 908 francs. If we consider, however, that the expenses of
the fishery are far greater for the diving apparatus than for the other modes of
fishing, we see that the profit of the Italians and of the minority of the Greeks
without these machines was in no way smaller than that of the majority of the
Greeks using the diving apparatus, with the great difference that all the Italians
and the minority of the Greeks fished with harmless means, while the majority
of the Greeks used apparatus injurious to their health and to the prosperity of
the Italian sponge grounds. The Italian Government hoped to be able to
protect these divers by its partial prohibition of 1902, but the desired results
were not attained.

The Italian sponge fishers live at Terra del Greco, Porto Empedocle, Trapani,
Naples, Palermo, and Catania, using mostly the dragnet and more rarely the
hook, and fishing on the banks of Lampedusa, Linosa, Pantellaria, Ustica, the
Afolian and Avgadian islands, along the coasts of Apulia and Calabria, Sicily,
and Sardinia, and especially the coast of Tunis. In 1887 Captain Leonardo
Angugliaro, from Trapani, discovered the extensive sponge banks of Lampedusa,
and in the following year Greek fishermen with diving apparatus, under the
Greek and Turkish flags, appeared there, to continue in Italy what they had

536 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES.

so thoroughly begun in their native country, i. e., the gradual but sure destruc-
tion of the sponge fishery. It was thus that the question of diving machines
was introduced in Italy. ;

We must render the Italian Government the justice to acknowledge that
it took and takes pains to obtain information. This is proved by the fact that
as early as May 22, 1890, the Italian Naval Office sent a circular to the consuls
at Tunis, Tripoli, Korphu, Canea, Piraeus, Thessalonica, Smyrna, and Larnaka,
containing questions as to the sponge fishing, but the result of this action was
not published. In June of the same year the Italian Government detailed to
the Mark Antonio Colonna, commanded by Eugenio de Getani, Prof. Enrico
Giglioli, of France, a scientist, now director of the Zoological Museum in that
city. We owe to the joint work of these men several good maps of the sponge
banks of Lampedusa, an unsuccessful attempt to raise sponges artificially, and
a few partly correct and partly incorrect observations on the value of the diving
apparatus for sponge fishing, which may be found in the report of the ‘“‘Condi-
zioni.”” Giglioli, a scientist of great ability, unfortunately favored the diving
apparatus in this practical question, having not the least perception of the
miseries it brought about. The evils of the method were thus not appreciated
by the Naval Ministry and the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce
and the use of the diving apparatus was recommended to the Italian sponge
fishermen often and warmly in the ‘“‘Condizioni”’ until 1901.

These frequent official recommendations in the ‘‘Condizioni,” based upon
the reports of the commanders of war ships supervising the sponge fishing, and
the success of the Greeks, who concealed carefully their dead and cripples from
the Italians, showing only the advantages of the method, induced a few Italians
in 1893 to make a few experiments with the diving apparatus. These attempts
were without the desired success, however, because in order to obtain the most
modest results the life and health of human beings must be sacrificed without
pity and no one could or would understand this in Italy, neither the officials of
the ports nor the divers who serve in the Italian navy. The experiment to
obtain sponges by means of the diving apparatus was tried once and no more,
as may be ascertained by the report published in 1894 in the “Condizioni.”
The observation of the necessary precautions for the divers being followed in
Italy, sufficient pecuniary results were precluded. ‘The Naval Office continued
to recommend the use of the machines until 1901, however, though fortunately
without any success, as may be seen from the reports of 1895, 1897, 1899, and
elsewhere.

The following incident, mentioned in the report of the ‘‘Condizioni” of 1898 *
for the cruise of 1897, is very characteristic:

The naval authorities of Lampedusa learned that several Greek divers who met with
accidents during their work were secretly buried on a neighboring island. The dispatch

ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 537

boat Rapido brought the proper authorities to the above-mentioned point, and three
bodies of Greek divers were found. Microscopic examination, made by the ship’s
surgeon, showed that the divers were suffocated, and it was found they were afterwards
buried by their comrades without notice to the authorities of Lampedusa. Thanks to the
presence of the dispatch boat Rapido, these regrettable facts were found out and it
was shown that the Greek captains of sponge vessels do not observe all the necessary
precautionary measures demanded by humanity in this work.

In the interest of justice and humanity the Italian Ministry of the Navy
requested the Greek Government to take measures in order that such incidents
should not occur again, and the Greek Ministry published on the 3/15 of Feb-
ruary, 1898, a circular to the harbor masters and the consular authorities,
enjoining them to see that the captains of the sponge-fishing craft observed
rigorously all requirements, including the circular issued by the Ministry of the
Navy on April 21/24, 1896, on precautions for divers. But all these measures
remained without result, because the Greek Government does not fix the respon-
sibility for cases of death and sickness, as we have already mentioned. The
Ottoman Government likewise holds no one responsible for the abuse of the
diving apparatus in spite of the prohibition of August, 1902.

Fortunately a change has taken place since 1901 in the attitude of the
Italian Ministry of the Navy in regard to the diving apparatus. In addition to
the partial prohibition of 1902 in regard to the depth, we find in the ‘‘ Condizioni”
during the later years reports almost similar to that of 1906 for the cruise of 1904,
which I transcribe here: ;

The use of diving apparatus, which was fortunately not adopted by our sponge
fishermen, is, although preferred for the selection of the product, always harmful and
often deadly to those using it.

This sentence and especially the word ‘‘fortunately,”’ as well as the partial
prohibition of 1902, is a declaration of the Ministry of the Navy of conviction
that the diving apparatus is harmful, a conviction which ought to be substantiated
by an entire prohibition. The limited questionable merit for selection of the
product is of very small practical value and is easily changed into an evil if we
think that after the selection of the large sponges soon the smaller and smallest
are taken and the young growth is being crushed by the heavy and broad soles
of the divers. The use of diving apparatus in sponge fishing is thus wholly con-
demned and ought to be prohibited by every wise government.

The other official body in Rome concerned with the fisheries, the Commis-
sione Consultiva per la Pesca, which has been for more than twenty years a part
of the Ministry of Agriculture, has as yet taken no action further than to recog-
nize the question as deserving of study, action being deferred pending fuller infor-
mation. Such delay is most dangerous to the interests at stake, since much evil
may be done during the time consumed in further study of the subject.

538 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES,
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

The sponge fisheries in Austria-Hungary are located in the village of Crap-
pano, district of Sebenico, in Dalmatia. There were, in 1904, 140 sponge
fishermen on 70 barks. Each bark carries a rower and a fisherman, with a five-
pronged hook which has a handle 18 meters long. The men smooth the sur-
face of the sea by pouring oil over it, instead of using the tin cylinder with the
glass bottom. The annual harvest of sponges per man varies from 225 to 500
crowns in value; a few earned 800 crowns in 1897. The two former figures are
below and the latter is above the sum mentioned by the ‘‘Condizioni” for the
Italian sponge fishers in 1904, i. e., 800 frances.

The Oesterreichische Gesellschaft fiir Seefischerei und Fischzucht, in Trieste,
from whose reports I have taken the data for sponge fishing in Austria-Hungary,
have recommended the diving machine to the sponge fishermen of Crappano since
1892, the Imperial and Royal authorities of Trieste prescribing that on the coast
of Istria and in the vicinity of the islands of Quarnero the apparatus should not
be used at a depth of less than 12 meters and in the Dalmatian waters at a depth
of 20 meters; but the enforcement of this requirement is very difficult. Experi-
ments with the diving apparatus failed, however, as in all cases in which an enlight-
ened government provided for personal safety of the divers and the future of
the sponge beds. Observation of the necessary precautions precluded all profit.
These efforts were met likewise with an obstinate resistance on the part of the
majority of the sponge fishermen of Crappano, who recognized a great danger in
the diving apparatus. Their own experience as well as the resolutions of the
International Fishery Congress at St. Petersburg in 1902, at which the Oester-
reichische Gesellschaft was represented, caused the latter to desist from further
encouragement of the diving apparatus.

The same society resolved in 1904 to make experiments with the dragnet at
depths over 40 meters, having in mind the considerable results obtained by this
mode of fishing in the waters of Lampedusa. Such an apparatus was made for
the society by a Greek sponge fisherman in Trieste. I have not yet, however,
obtained a report of the results it yielded. The Austro-Hungarian waters are
divided into zones for sponge fishing, in order to allow time for the sponges to
grow to their full size and propagate, and it is forbidden to take sponges of fess
than 6 centimeters in diameter.

UNITED STATES.

There are numerous sponge banks in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico,
especially south and west of Florida, Cuba, Haiti, the Bahama Islands, which are
situated outside the Gulf, and in other places. Sponge fishing in the state of

Florida has its centers at Key West, Tarpon Springs, and Apalachicola. In 1900

ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 539

this industry was followed in the first locality by 1,827 persons, in the second by
354 persons, and in the third by 64, making a total of 2,245. Among these, 1,239
men were working on small vessels, 874 on barks, and 132 on shore. ‘There were
1,356 colored and 75 white men among the sponge fishermen, and among the
workmen on shore there were 119 white and 13 colored men. According to
nationalities, 1,268 were British subjects, mostly from the Bahama Islands, of
which 1,013 were colored; 839 were citizens of the United States, of which 343
were colored, 5 Portuguese, and 1 Norwegian. Among the men working on shore
‘114 were citizens of the United States, all white, and 1 Greek. Up to 1905 the
sponges were gathered in Florida exclusively by means of the hook. It is to be
regretted that the dragnet is prohibited for the greater depths where the hook can
not reach.

In 1900 there were used in sponge fishing 156 small vessels of 1,750 tons
in all, valued at $182,151, and 228 barks valued at $176,465. The trade in
native sponges was concentrated at Key West and Tarpon Springs, and was
carried on by representatives of firms in New York, Philadelphia, and St. Louis,
with the exception of one independent firm in each of the two above-named
Florida localities. These firms had in this year 17 buyers and 124 other em-
ployees and workmen, the annual salary of whom amounted to a total of $43,947.
In 1900 there were obtained in Florida 418,125 pounds of sponges, valued at
$567,685, while in 1880 there were gathered 207,000 pounds of sponges, valued
at $200,750. (These data are taken from official reports of the United States
Bureau of Fisheries.)

In February, 1905, the question of sponge diving arose in America. In
the course of a few months 70 diving machines from Greece and Turkey, increas-
ing to 100 in the following year, appeared in Florida, and, so far as I could
ascertain at such a distance, operated without loss of life, since the work was
done in shallow waters. It did so much the more harm to the future of the
sponge beds, however, and the practical Americans did not need much time,
fortunately, to see the danger threatening from these reckless foreigners. Thus
the question arose in the United States, and those concerned were divided into
two large groups with diverging interests for and against the diving apparatus,
exactly as previously in other countries. All who could obtain a temporary
profit declared themselves in favor of the diving apparatus, while all those who
had regard for the future were opposed. Both parties had influence and sought
justice and protection from the Government, and the matter came before the
Houses of Congress in Washington, there to be very promptly investigated
and acted upon.

On June 20, 1908, was passed the beneficent law by which the diving dress
in sponge fishing was absolutely prohibited in depths of 50 feet and less, and

540 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES.

at depths greater than 50 feet it could be used only from October 1 to May 1.
Moreover, the taking of the sponges of a diameter less than 4 inches was pro-
hibited, under penalty of a fine of $100 to $500 or confiscation of the vessel and
the diving dress. The important action of the Government of the United States
was undoubtedly influenced by the resolutions of the International Fishery
Congresses held in St. Petersburg in 1902 and in Vienna in 1905, as well as by
the beneficent legislation of so many countries of the Mediterranean Sea, for
these were frequently mentioned in the debates upon the subject, as were also
the reports of American consuls in countries of this vast sea basin, who have
given and still give this important question the consideration it merits, as may
be seen from the report of Consul G. B. Ravndal in Beirut. The practical
spirit of quick resolution in the Americans deserves high commendation and
imitation, and it is to be hoped that this recent excellent example of forethought
will influence the slower governments to early action in this important matter.

ZL 2
RESUME.

Most of the sponge-bearing countries—Samos, Crete, Egypt, Tunis, and
Turkey—exact only a moderate payment of dues from each vessel. Cyprus did
the same until 1904; since that date the government of this island has exacted
a very high percentage of the harvest of sponges, which is unjust and, moreover,
unpractical, as it demands the continuous supervision of each sponge-fishing
vessel. The United States, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Greece exact no fees.
I lack the necessary information in this regard as to Cuba and the Bahama
Islands.

In fact, as I have stated, there is a lack of complete and general statistics
on sponge fishing, especially as to injuries to health and life of the sponge fisher-
men and the condition of sponge beds arising from the use of the diving appa-
ratus. I obtained the following approximate figures, which vary, however,
from year to year, by long years of observations and investigations. The
number of diving machines in use by part of the sponge fishermen of Hydra
and exclusively by those of Spetze and A/gina in Greece; by part of the sponge
fishermen of Kalymnos, Syme, Chalke, and Kastelloriso, and exclusively by
those of Aivali, Moschonisia, and Marmora in Turkey, has varied according to
the year from a few in 1866 to 225 with 1,200 divers and 1,500 sailors in 1898.
The adherents of the three good methods may be computed at 10,000 in round
numbers, fishermen and sailors, from Syria to Florida. Vet even this figure
varies, though somewhat less, according to the years. With their families and
the families of the classes closely united with them as priests, teachers, merchants,
and artisans, the sponge fishermen form a population of more than 100,000
heads. The yearly mortality of sponge fishermen in the diving apparatus is

ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 541

about 20 per cent and the seriously and slightly diseased reach annually 25
per cent. The health of the sponge fishermen working with the hook and the
dragnet is not exposed to the slightest injury. Only the naked divers run at
times the danger of being attacked by a shark, but accidents of this kind are so
rare that the fishermen do not consider them at all. The number of victims
of the diving apparatus during the entire time of the abuse, i. e., during forty-
two years, may be computed at 5,300 dead and 2,300 seriously disabled, while
cases of slight diseases, transformed into serious ones with time and ending in
death or chronic ailment, attack all divers after a longer or shorter period of
work in the machines.

For the future of the fishery as well as the welfare of the fisherman the
diving machine is most harmful. It has been contended that the diver fishes
without disturbing the bottom. This is not true. The heavy apparatus breaks
and crunches the embryo sponges that lie in the path of the diver, and he searches
over the entire sponge-bearing area. He takes, moreover, not only the largest
and best sponges but also the small ones, arguing that what he does not take
to-day will be taken by some one else to-morrow, and he fears also the cruel
captain. The naked divers, on the other hand, are unable to take so many
sponges or to harvest so closely, since their stay under water must be brief.
Their season is from April to September. The hookers and the dragnet fisher-
men work throughout the year, but it is to be noted that the dragnet can not be
used either in total calm or in gale or storm, while calm or light breezes are
necessary for the naked diver or the hooker. Thus it will be seen that each
of these methods is subject to frequent and sometimes long-continued inter-
ruption. Their harmlessness as compared with the scaphander is obvious.

Experiments in artificial raising of sponges, although undertaken frequently,
have never been successful and probably never will be on account of the very
nature of things. When the sponges are torn from their roots a milky fluid
flows from their elastic tissues, and it is this fluid that contains the germs of
new sponges, which are carried along by the currents as the seeds of some plants
are carried by the wind, until they attach themselves and grow. A sponge
needs four to five years to reach maturity, after which it begins to die, having
discharged its fluid with the germs. The sea currents, which the sponge needs
for its growth, are an obstacle to artificial raising of sponges, for while they
allow the microscopic embryo to fasten itself to a suitable spot, they do not
permit cuttings selected for culture purposes to do so, and the equipment nec-
essary to overcome this is easily destroyed by storms. Moreover, if it were
possible for science to succeed in effecting this miracle, on a small scale and at
a large expense, the result would be of no commercial value, as all the most
effective conservation of the sponge beds would be accomplished by prohibition

542 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES.

of the diving apparatus. This would cost neither money nor labor, and under
it the sponges would propagate abundantly, while hundreds of lives would be
saved or benefited thereby.

APPEAL TO THE INTERNATIONAL FISHERY CONGRESS.

My work in the cause of the sponge divers at first consisted of efforts to
arouse public interest in their behalf, by written communications and petitions,
by publications in the press, and by lectures on the subject. Iat length, however,
resorted to direct appeal to the authorities of the different countries concerned,
presenting my cause in person. I have likewise organized societies or enlisted
the efforts of existing organizations wherever possible, and have brought the
matter before various official and unofficial bodies. As recounted in the pre-
ceding pages, all of the sponge-bearing countries of the Mediterranean, and also
the United States of America, have passed prohibitory or restrictive laws. For
the most part, however, the laws have been ineffective, by reason of intrigues
on the part of advocates of the scaphander and indifference on the part of the
governments. ‘The various international congresses before whom the question
has been brought, while in one or two instances slow to act, have for the most
part given prompt and full indorsement of my plea. JI am now addressing the
International Life-Saving Congress at Frankfort on the Main, and at the same
time making a fervent appeal to the International Fishery Congress at Wash-
ington. ‘The measures for which I solicit the support of these congresses are
the following:

(1) Prohibition of the diving apparatus and protection of the three good
modes of fishing brought down from antiquity.

(2) Inauguration of an international supervision of the execution of inter-
national measures against the illegal sponge fishing with diving apparatus in
neutral waters where the national supervision is not sufficient.

(3) Establishment of life and accident insurance as well as of savings
banks for the sponge fishermen.

(4) Care of the surviving victims of the diving apparatus.

(5) Levying of dues for the permission to take sponges, and the utilization
of part of this revenue in behalf of the sponge fishermen.

(6) Rigid supervision of the execution of these measures on land and on
water.

Since parts of this programme have already become law in various inter-
ested countries and have operated with the best of success, there is reason to
hope that they will soon meet with recognition and execution in countries’
where little has as yet been done for the suffering sponge fishermen.

The. question of maritime jurisdiction is a further problem of importance
in the sponge fisheries. Greece, Turkey, Tunis, the United States, and lately

ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 543

a Egypt, have accepted the 3-mile limit in the dispute as to the use of the
e scaphander—an old formula not applicable in scientific administration of the
sponge fisheries, since the sponge grounds often lie beyond that distance from
a the coast. It is to be hoped that all enlightened governments will give due
i recognition to this fact and in regard to the sponge fishermen will assume juris-
4 ___ diction over a zone of 60 miles to seaward, abolishing the abuse of the scaphander
- within that territory. I earnestly solicit the International Fishery Congress to
a recommend such action.

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