I take underwater artifacts...

[riverdiver]

So you are saying is the Government of Canada picks what wrecks and when it wants to protect them? The Fontana North of the Blue Water Bridge in between USA and Canada was wrecked on the Canada side and was owned by a US shipping company,and was told by the government of Canada to remove it or dynamite it. And that was the same with the Jolite down stream. Now you are telling me Canada wants to protect these wrecks after they wanted them destroyed?
And what is with the funny lines above your A's and O's do you need a new keyboard?

 

[Diver0001]

Not at all.

I'm saying that the Canadian government claims ownership of derelict wrecks within it's territorial waters.

Some are protected some are not. I wasn't saying that they try to protect all wrecks, just that they make the decisions.

As for the funny characters. I don't know what happend with that. I wrote that post in the Windows notepad and then used copy/paste to put it on scubaboard. I guess my computer uses a slightly different character set than the scubaboard database does.

R..

 

[Rhone Man]

The law relating to property in shipwrecks and their cargos is actually fiendishly complex. In most countries the right to a ship and its cargo remain vested in the original owner, even thought it is at the bottom of the sea for centuries. There have been a couple of celebrated cases where insurance companies have successfully claimed title to recovered cargoes hundreds of years after they sunk.

The US is the most notable country that takes the opposite approach, and treats wrecks and their cargos as "abandoned" if no attempt is made to salvage them within a reasonable time. In a sense that makes life easier, because the law relating to finding abandoned property is a lot simpler than the law relating to salvage of property owned by someone else.

Layered on top of this in any given country can be a complex array of rules relating to protected sites, cultural heritage, war graves, and vesting of shipwrecked property in the state.

Lastly different countries apply their laws on different bases - many countries apply the law relating to wrecks in their terrotorial waters; others apply the law of the flag of the wrecked ship, regardless where it sank.

All in all, a glorious gift to lawyers anytime someone finds something of value.

 

[bonehunter]

We (my dive buddy and I) dive in the Cooper River, SC all the time. We obtain a "hobby divers license" each year to collect fossils and artifacts. The license clearly states that you may collect any fossil or artifact for your personal collection, that you can remove and get to the surface by yourself, without the use of any lines or lift bags. This is a SC state license, so yes, I do collect anything I find on the bottom of the Cooper if it will fit in my goodie bag. I do not believe in letting fossils and artifacts deteriorate at the river bottom. Many of the items I find are placed in museums and I report everything I find to the state museum quarterly. As long as you go by the book and follow the laws in your area, you should have no problems.

 

[ZimZimma328Ci]

We (my dive buddy and I) dive in the Cooper River, SC all the time. We obtain a "hobby divers license" each year to collect fossils and artifacts. The license clearly states that you may collect any fossil or artifact for your personal collection, that you can remove and get to the surface by yourself, without the use of any lines or lift bags. This is a SC state license, so yes, I do collect anything I find on the bottom of the Cooper if it will fit in my goodie bag. I do not believe in letting fossils and artifacts deteriorate at the river bottom. Many of the items I find are placed in museums and I report everything I find to the state museum quarterly. As long as you go by the book and follow the laws in your area, you should have no problems.

Sounds cool, do you know where I can read up on the license and all? I am new to diving and it would be cool to find some cool stuff around the state.

Josh

 

[bonehunter]

Check out this link: http://www.deepsouthrivers.com/forms/HobbyDiverLicenseApplication.pdf

 

[OceanMist333]

See? There are people out there who are normal!

 

[Airtech77]

Ya'll be posting in a troll thread

 

[whiskeytango]

Loose lips sink ships

 

[RMDiver]

Maybe he can leave his house unlocked so we can see these relics?