Amature underwater recovery?

[andrew96]

I am a fisherman on the James River in Virginia(Richmond to Norfolk to be precise), and I have a boat and sonar, the whole nine yards. I know there are wrecks galore in the river, ships have been in it since 1540. But anyway, I want to see if I can do some sort of small scale recovery, does anyone do this, is this idea sane, what problems are there,etc? I know of some wrecks already(fish hole in them) that I fish, why not?

 

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[itmaiden]

Hi Andrew,

Welcome to T-Net. This is a great site, and I hope you will have lot's of fun being here. It is also a good site to learn things from as you probably have already noticed.

Before you go out doing any "salvage" or "recovery", even just "exploration", to see what a wreck is, you need to learn the laws in your state. Your state should have a government archaeological division and maybe a historical division. Be sure to get copies of the laws in "hard copy" so you can study what the law actually states.
You may have to have permits, acquire a lease, pay a fee etc to recover artifacts of any kind from the ocean bottom, or other "submerged lands" such as in rivers, streams, springs, lakes, and ponds.
If you fail to do so, it can result in great legal problems and financial hardship for you.

To give you an example:

A number of years ago, 2 men wanted some civil war relics so decided to MD (metal detect) at Pea Ridge, a well known civil war site which is also protected under the archie (slang) (archaeological laws).
They gathered a few little old lead bullets and some other minor trinkets when the authorities appeared.

Those few trinkets cost them $10,000 fines plus prison time.

Some wrecks are off limits, such as certain military vessels. You also must know what the protected species are such as "sea grass" or various "corals". Now there are state protected species and federal protected species, so learn both. In Florida, salvagers cannot damage any reef system. If they see a piece of embedded gold, they cannot destroy the coral to get to the gold. They must leave it alone.

Treasure recovery can have risks. Entering old ships can be dangerous. If you are merely planning to dredge, again there may be laws in your state against dredging in certain areas, and you must be careful not to harm protected species in the process, whether they are animal or plant life.

So check with your state government offices first, but word alone is not good enough when the authorities show up to question you. Make sure you study the law yourself.

itmaiden

I am a fisherman on the James River in Virginia(Richmond to Norfolk to be precise), and I have a boat and sonar, the whole nine yards. I know there are wrecks galore in the river, ships have been in it since 1540. But anyway, I want to see if I can do some sort of small scale recovery, does anyone do this, is this idea sane, what problems are there,etc? I know of some wrecks already(fish hole in them) that I fish, why not?