State waters

Goldminer

Full Member
Apr 28, 2006
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107
Las Vegas, Nv
Before I left the Keys right after Andrew, I remember some litigation between a private salver and the State where the State's contention was that a vessel carrying artifacts that were found outside of state waters could be seized along with the vehicles of occupants of said vessel. Could this be what the State is aiming for with new rule changes? How would Admiralty claims be protected from this type of action? Would Admiralty claimants need Coast Guard escorts to enter Florida waters even though said claimants lived in Florida? What about vessels coming into Florida from foreign countries with artifacts recovered in different countries? How many more state bureaucrats would have to be hired to monitor all these vessels?
 

I was one of the last speakers at the meeting concerning the
ruling changes to article 1A-31.

I brought up the question - How I can transport my marine search
gear through State of Florida waters to alternate sites outside of
Florida without being arrested?

There was no reply from the state represenatives at the meeting.

I thought that it was a good question which has to be addressed in any
rule change.

Dinkydick
 

In the territorial waters of the United States, ships can be subject to the jurisdiction of individual U.S. states, too. Under federal law: "The seaward boundary of each original coastal State is approved and confirmed as a line three geographical miles distant from its coast line or, in the case of the Great Lakes, to the international boundary." In Skiriotes v. State Of Florida, 313 U.S. 69 (1941), the United States Supreme Court held that within the three-mile limit, "[w]hen its action does not conflict with federal legislation, the sovereign authority of the State over the conduct of its citizens upon the high seas is analogous to the sovereign authority of the United States over its citizens in like circumstances." At the time, the U.S.'s territorial sea was three miles wide, so the states had the same territorial jurisdiction as the federal government. In 1988, President Reagan extended the U.S.'s territorial sea to 12 miles. The states' territory was left at the three mile mark. For historical reasons, Texas and Florida's claims in the Gulf of Mexico are three marine leagues, which is about nine miles.
 

Fisheye... Don't forget the contiguos zone which is another 12 mi. Did the U.S. Govt. approve the 9 mi. in the Gulf?
 

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