The Sponge is a renewable resource, where have the divers gone?

Tarpon Springs, Florida

Tarpon Springs draws more than 1 million tourists annually thanks to the Greek Culture and the Sponge Diving Industry. Many do not realize the depths at which the industry is endangered. The production of sponges is healthier than it has been in years, it is the scarcity of divers and the forecast of available divers in the future that put the industry in trouble.

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All aboard the St. Nicholas IV. George Biliris, known to some as the Diving Guru, educates tourists on the sponge industry through tours aboard the St. Nicholas IV.




The 30 minute mock sponge diving expedition features a “real” sponge diver wearing a traditional diving suit, no longer used by modern divers in Tarpon Springs. The diver disappears into the waters of Tarpon Springs and when he reappears he wows St. Nicholas’ guests with a sponge from the Ocean Floor.


Once an active sponge diver and captain, George Biliris, Sponge Merchant International, now spends most of his time in his office dedicating his time to keep the modern day sponge industry alive.
Because of the fragile ecosystem that the sponges rely on the history of the sponging industry has been up and down. Due to consecutive down years, traditional spongers have had to turn to new trades. Thus, sponging is no longer a trade that is passed down from one generation to the next. For years Biliris has tried to find experienced sponge divers in the U.S. Biliris knows where to find the truly passionate divers, in his home country of Greece. Due to water conditions over the years the sponge population has been depleted. Greece has the divers but no sponges. Tarpon Springs has the sponges but no divers. The solution seems easy. 3 Years ago Tarpon Springs sistered with Kalymnos, Greece, to begin a pilot program for a cultural exchange between Kalymnos and Tarpon Springs. “We brought in the hardcore pros. It was a tremendous success.” Currently the main obstacle is with immigration. The quota is full for H2B employees, part time seasonal employees. There is a need to allow permanent visas or green cards for sponge divers to support our economy and our ecosystem.



 


The Real Sponge Divers. Anastasios “Tasso” Karistinos, has been sponge diving professionally for 34 years. He captains his own vessel Anastasi, meaning Resurrection in Greek. He prefers to take along a crew of 2, however because divers are hard to find he usually brings only one crew member. Available crew is generally inexperienced thus Tasso has the “double pleasure” of driving the boat and diving while his crew processes the sponges and gets them ready to sell at auction.

Sponges must be at least 5 inches in diameter to legally pick them. With the magnification underwater 5 inches is hard to determine. Tasso uses a 4 prong rake with a measuring device on the back that assures him that each sponge he removes from the ocean floor is of legal dimensions. If the sponge is not big enough he will leave it for a future diver. If it is 5 inches or more he will pull it up with the rake and add it to his net. Cutting the sponge off wife a knife is another method leaving the membrane on the ocean floor to grow back.





Pictured here, Tasso displays his discomfort with the rash he acquired from his most recent trip where he spent over a week in a wetsuit. This is simply part of the job for Tasso, who has sponging in his blood. He is one of the few remaining spongers in Tarpon Springs that has not given up sponging for a more comfortable or profitable career. Over the past 34 years when sponging has been slow Tasso has picked up work painting bridges. Tasso claims that he has always returned to sponging, “…my heart is in sponging. I always come back to it.”
According to Biliris, the reality is that there are very few men willing and able to work as sponge divers anymore. With diving there is no guarantee that you will harvest enough sponges to pay your bills. Pay is poor and not guaranteed. The job is high risk yet there is no insurance. Dive boats stay out at sea for 2-3 weeks, preferably 5-6 weeks to bring in a good shipment and overtime pay does not exist. 5

Once the sponges are harvested, they are processed on the boat, sold at auction, and then moved to the proprietors’ warehouses for resale to markets all over the world. All sponges differ in quality, demand, price and use. Different varieties found in Tarpon Springs include wool sponges, barrel sponges, vase sponges, yellow sponges.






Biliris believes that without patronizing the media, the reason Tarpon Springs is a success is because the media fell in love with Tarpon Springs. “…because it is real. It is not Mickey Mouse. We are exposed every day, all day in publications around the world.” More than 1 million people visit Tarpon Springs per year. Last year 20 million tourist dollars came into Tarpon Springs. Today the tourism industry in Tarpon Springs employs 1000 people.
Educating people on the benefits of the sponge industry to Tarpon Springs is on the forefront of political issues that Biliris is currently involved with. “Sponge diving in Tarpon Springs is worthy of preservation based on its historical value and uniqueness.
If we do not protect this resource it will be damaging to the economy. We will lose in terms of advertising of Tarpon Springs and tourism. People will forget about the sponging history or they will never know of it’s historical past.” Biliris continues by pleading for help, “Anyone who has any ideas or power to help our cause, please come forth.”