It’s been written as far
back as the 5th century B. C., the Greeks of the islands of
the Aegean Sea were the founders of the Natural Sea
Sponging Industry.
But according to the booklet “The Sponging
Industry” published by the Public Records Office,
Archives Section, Ministry of Education & Culture, it
is believed that “the Bahamian Sponge Industry was
started by a Frenchman, named M. Gustave Renouard, who was
wrecked in the Bahamas in 1841.
He exported sponges to Paris and the trade was further
developed by his son-in-law, Mr. Edward Brown.”
“The rest is now history” as they say. Such a
discovery meant a new industry was borne in the Bahamas and
the rush was on to harvest these delicate beauties by any
means possible.
This also meant the old sponge fishermen had their
challenges with competing illegal non-Bahamian fishermen
with their fancy diving equipment that included dive suits
& helmets with air being pumped in to sustain the
diver.
Not only did our local fishermen had to compete with these
illegal fishermen, a major catastrophe struck the sponge
beds in Nov/Dec 1938 and within 2 months 99% of the sponges
was just about wiped out due this strange disease that
turned out to be a fungus. You could read more on this and
other interesting facts.
Why not get yourself a copy of this informative booklet
“The Sponging Industry”, by either writing:
Public Records Office
Archives Section
Ministry of Education & Culture
P. O. Box N3913
Nassau, Bahamas
Or you may also order a copy of this booklet through our
website, just us drop a line for more details.