Mistakes have been made.
It does not matter who made the mistakes. What matters is to analyse the mistakes and correct.
To analyse, we best go back some time, take a possible location and see what has been done over the years.
What are the results?
Then make some conjectures of what could have been.
What could the results be if it had been done the different way?
One of the richest areas of shipwreck treasure is the Azores. Countless richly laden galleons sank there. Some on the coast, others in deep water, all of them accessible today.
Billions of dollars of treasure. Priceless historical, archaeological and anthropological information about the development of trade from the new to the old world.
About 30 years ago, Marx, one of the most knowledgeable persons on historic shipwrecks, visited the government of the Azores and proposed to recover some of these treasures.
Marx was turned down.
What has happened in the 30 years since then? How did the population of the Azores benefit from the immense riches hidden beneath the waves on the coasts of the islands?
The Azores is an archipelago of 9 islands. The island economy has always been difficult. About 30 years ago, the Whale fishing came to an end, reducing the income even more.
There were some attempts at developing tourism, but without a very special magnet, it is difficult to attract tourists to such a remote place, that has not been blessed with much sun and beaches of white sand.
So the islanders are mostly poor people working very hard just to survive.
What if The Azores government had made a deal with Marx? For example:
Marx would supply financing, know-how, technology, scientific staff, technicians, vessels etc.
The Azores would let Marx keep 50% of the treasure.
Marx would have to employ people from the Azores for 90% of the work force.
Marx would have to setup treatment, preservation and conservation labs for all the artifacts.
Marx and the Azores government would make a joint venture Museum/Theme park where the history, anthropology and archaeology of the treasure galleons would be explained in an interesting exhibit that would attract many tourists.
I think Marx would have been happy with this deal.
What would the deal have brought to the people of the Azores?
I think we can safely surmise that over the 30 years since then, the 50% of treasure of the Azores people would amount to over one billion dollars. 1,000,000,000 US Dollars.
By now, probably over 500 people would be employed by the enterprise.
Tourism would have gotten a big boost. Let's not forget, that every tourist visiting the Azores would spend several thousand dollars. That means if on the average, about 100,000 tourists per year, (a small number) visited the islands because of the treasure galleons, this would be about 3,000,000 tourists, each spending a few thousand dollars.... that amounts to several billions of dollars of income.
With some of the money the government of the Azores could have build and maintained an International University of Ocean Sciences. There is no better location for that than an archipelago in the middle of an Ocean.
By now, many of the world's most famous Ocean Scientists would come from there.
Some of the money could have been spent on improving shipyards and harbors. First to serve and maintain the Galleon Recovery Flotilla and the existing trans Atlantic boating business. Then to serve and maintain some of the Atlantic high seas fishing fleet.
More jobs.
I could go on and on. A vast amount of jobs could have been created with the monies coming to the Azores from the treasure galleons, improving the per capita income of the archipelago substantially.
Here is a question:
Were the people of the Azores asked for their opinion, when the Government turned down Marx's proposal?
Where the people of the Azores aware of the benefits that such a deal could have brought to the Azores?
Oceanscience
