George Billiris, 76, organizes Tarpon's first sponge auction in a long time and makes about $20,000. "We were more than satisfied," he says.
By TERRI D. REEVES
Published August 1, 2003
[Times photos: Scott Keeler]
George Billiris, left, checks on several lots of spongs offered at an auction he organized at the historic Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks.
Michael Cantonis, owner of Acme Sponge and Chamois Co. Inc., contemplates a lot of sponges at the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks.
TARPON SPRINGS - The sidewalk next to the Sponge Docks on Thursday morning looked like a scene from the past.
Salty Greek divers with day-old beards and dark leathery skin sorted natural brown sponges strung on ropes like beads on a necklace.
Buyers looking to buy in bulk touched and squeezed, checking the merchandise for strength and softness.
An auctioneer conversed with buyers in Greek and English. The five buyers handed him their bids on pieces of paper.
But the tides have turned in Tarpon Springs.
Where sponge boats used to dock in rows four vessels across, now a mere five or six boats anchor. And no one seems to remember when the last public sponge auction like this was held.
"The auctions are pretty much a thing of the past," said Sevasti Karavas, 65, a former sponge buyer for a gift shop who came to watch.
She remembers the 1980s when auctions were held twice a week during the summer.
"Now we have very few boats and men to work on the boats," she said. "The old-timers are gone, and the young kids don't want to do this kind of work. I hope this keeps things alive for Tarpon Springs because we are known for our sponge industry."
She is not alone.
George Billiris, who organized the auction, partly to sell his sponges, partly to attract attention to sponging, is a 76-year-old man enamored with the past. He grew up in Tarpon Springs, became a successful international sponge merchant and is well-connected in the community. He chokes up at the thought that the sponge industry in this town is dying a slow death. He is doing what he can to resuscitate it.
"I remember my father and grandfather saying that when they died the industry would, too," he said. "It didn't, so I'm hoping it won't when I'm gone."
Tarpon Springs' sponging industry started near the turn of the last century and grew to become one of main sponge-producing ports in the world. A blight in 1946 killed many gulf sponge beds, but they came back in the late 1950s. By the 1980s, sponging had grown to about a $6-million industry in Tarpon Springs. Then it went into another decline.
It's not that there is no market for sponges.
"The demand is seven times greater than the supply," he says.
Sponges are as popular as ever with painters and are also used for cleaning and bathing. Tourists visiting Tarpon Springs usually feel compelled to buy at least one as a souvenir. But what they may not know is most come from the Bahamas or the Keys, not Tarpon Springs.
The reasons are as varied as the types of sponges awaiting bids on the sidewalk.
Buyers often buy sponges from other parts of the Caribbean because, with cheaper labor, prices are better.
And it's difficult to attract good sponge divers these days. There are virtually no benefits, and divers are at sea for almost 200 days a year. Diving can be dangerous, and the oppressive summer heat and smell of the sponges can be overwhelming.
Diver Zacharias Kitsos, 63, of Tarpon Springs is one of the few who have stayed with it. He started diving at 14 and plans to keep diving until he is 75. His boat is Pantelemona, named after a big church on the Greek island of Kalymnos.
"Sponges are getting the same prices today as 15 years ago," said Kitsos, who recalls seeing 150 boats docked here.
Technology also has been a culprit in the decline of the auctions. The few sponge boat captains left now tend to make deals from their cell phones as they are bringing in their bounty.
Billiris is working with members of the local sponge association to bring seasoned divers over from Greece to try and revive the industry. The sponges in the Mediterranean have all but died off, killed by pollution, underwater volcanoes and lingering radiation from the nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl. Divers there need work.
For the past two months, Billiris, a captain with more than 50 years' experience, has taken three middle-aged divers from Kalymnos to sponge beds near Steinhatchee 150 miles north of here.
Their boat was the St. Nicholas III, built in 1938. They faced thunderstorms and murky waters but managed to gather about 22,000 sponges. Eight thousand were sold on Thursday at the auction.
"We made about $20,000," Billiris said. "We were more than satisfied."
He said that auctions can bring spongers better prices than cell phone deals because of the competition between buyers. But he emphasizes that money is not his only motive.
"I'm civic-minded," he said. "The auctions have historical and cultural value for Tarpon Springs."
Billiris said he plans to hold an auction every two weeks for the rest of the summer.
He has one other motive for going on and facing the sun and saltwater for two weeks at a time.
"It's good for me," he said. "I've lost 18 pounds in the last month."
