Fisherman snatches panga, officers arrest fisherman

Sorry for the long post, but according to The Abandoned Shipwreck act of 1987 the STATE has ownership of wrecks within 3 NM of shore, the fisherman may be out of luck.

Abandoned Shipwreck Act (ASA)

Reproduced from Encyclopedia of Underwater and Maritime Archaeology, edited by James P. Delgado, British Museum Press, London, 1997.

Michele Aubry

Law of 1987 that establishes government ownership over the majority of abandoned shipwrecks located in waters of the United States of America and creates a framework within which shipwrecks are managed. Enacted in 1988, it affirms the authority of State governments to claim and manage abandoned shipwrecks on State submerged lands. It makes the laws of salvage and finds not apply to any shipwreck covered under the Act and asserts that shipwrecks are multiple-use resources.

Since the 1950s, citing the Submerged Lands Act of 1953, State governments have claimed title to and control over abandoned shipwrecks on State submerged lands. By the 1980s, over half of the States had enacted laws and established programmes to manage abandoned historic shipwrecks in State waters. However, Federal Admiralty Court also claimed jurisdiction over abandoned shipwrecks. Admiralty courts often treated historic shipwrecks as commodities lost at sea that were in marine peril and in need of salvage to be returned to commerce. Salvage awards often disregarded a shipwreck’s historical or archaeological values, thereby causing a loss of important scientific information. Nonetheless, some States prevailed in their claims to title and management authority over abandoned shipwrecks in State waters. The result was confusion and inconsistency from court to court and from State to State over ownership and regulatory control of abandoned shipwrecks.

These problems were resolved by the Abandoned Shipwreck Act. Under the statute, the US Government asserted title to three classes of abandoned shipwrecks located within three nautical miles of the US coastline and in the internal navigable waters of the United States. The Act covers abandoned shipwrecks that are embedded in submerged lands, abandoned shipwrecks that are embedded in coralline formations protected by a State, and abandoned shipwrecks that are on submerged lands and included in or determined eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. Upon asserting title to these shipwrecks, the US Government transferred its title to the government entity that owns the submerged lands containing the shipwrecks. As a result, State governments have title to shipwrecks located on State lands, the US Government has title to shipwrecks located on Federal lands, and Indian tribes have title to shipwrecks located on Indian lands.