The Tribune

By NATARIO MCKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net SPONGING could ultimately rival the multi-million dollar Bahamian lobster industry when revitalised, the Bahamas Commercial Fishermen's Alliance (BCFA) president said yesterday, telling Tribune Business those in this sector were not getting value for their labour and product. Adrian LaRoda revealed that the BCFA was working with the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) towards developing a sustainable program for the revitalisation of the formerly-thriving sponging industry, which was largely wiped out by disease in the late 1930s. The IDB has pre-approved grant funding of $1 million, and a concept paper is expected to be completed by March 30, 2012, for submission to the Bank for final approval, according to BAIC executives. In order to complete the concept paper, the dollar value of sponges is being examined. Mr LaRoda told Tribune Business: "When you look at the dollar value of the product at the moment, spongers get $1 for every sponge they harvest. Regardless of the size, they are getting $1 per sponge. It should be much more than that, and it will rival lobster in terms of value to our GDP and to the fishing industry." Mr LaRoda noted that sponge fishing was something fishermen did outside the lobster season. "Lobster right now is our cash crop," he added. "It is not as labour intensive as harvesting lobster, and it's something we don't see as a priority, but what we want to do is get them to understand that they are not getting value for their labour and product. "A dollar per sponge is really much less than they should be getting. We only have one or two people now that are exporting sponges, and with the revitalisation of the sector more exporters could come in, and more people could invest in the sector. That would make a big difference for sponge fishermen." And Mr LaRoda said: "It's normally the day fishermen who go out for sponges, and that may be 100 people, if that much. During the off-season you may have 300 to 400 people doing it. For the amount of product they harvest, just operating in shallow water and low level harvesting, these guys bring in thousands s of pounds of sponge. That's low level harvesting, so imagine if the industry was revitalised; it would be rivaling the harvesting of lobster." According to Mr LaRoda, the old method of sponge fishing still utilised by some is unsustainable. "Some guys use a pole and pull the whole sponge off the seabed. We are saying use a diver and cutting tool, cut the head off the sponge and leave the root in place so it will grow back. Within nine to 12 months a new sponge will grow in the same spot. These are the kinds of practices we are trying to get fishermen to understand. You have some guys still using the old method, which is unsustainable," Mr LaRoda said.