Comparative Historical Analysis of Mediterranean Sponge Fishing Communities: Adaptability and Effects of Global Change

Sponges (Spongia and Hippospongia) have been harvested in the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years, with demand sharply increasing during the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century. However, since the mid-1980s outbreaks of epizootic events that regularly destroy sponge populations have brought this resource to the brink of extinction and annihilated sponge fisheries of several countries. Using statistical data from a wide variety of sources, we provide a comparative approach to the historical development of the Greek and Tunisian sponge fishing communities including fishing techniques, capitalisation rates, and the place of the sponge in collective representations. While the Tunisian sponge fishery landed large and regular quantities of sponges until the last third of the twentieth century, the tonnages landed by the Greek fleets have been very irregular over the last 150 years. We highlight the importance of small-scale coastal fishing as an adaptive response to global impacts of climate and environmental change.