by Lee Nessel

. . . An International movement only months from being voted into law has the shipwreck salvage and dive industry on the brink of extinction and yet remains virtually unknown among those it threatens. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) is pushing for governmental control of all shipwrecks more than 50 years old. This could mean reversal of admiralty laws already on the books in the U.S., the end of private salvage operations and severe restrictions, if not complete bans on recreational diving on applicable wrecks.

. . UNESCO’S goal is the protection of a "valuable underwater cultural heritage." They contend that shipwrecks and archaeological sites are increasingly vulnerable to pillaging by treasure hunters as underwater excavation equipment becomes more efficient and accessible. In many cases, says UNESCO, this has already led to the loss of valuable material for historical study.

. . "Deep water technology is getting cheaper, and the last remaining inaccessible areas of the sea-bed are becoming accessible," said Lyndel Prott, chief of the UNESCO section responsible for the draft. "If we are to save the information which can be retrieved from shipwrecks, we have to act now to provide a proper legal framework for their protection and management."

. . But outraged salvage divers disagree and have formed ProSEA, the Professional Shipwreck Explorers Association to raise public awareness of the issues. Pat Clyne, co-founder of ProSEA and vice president of Mel Fisher Enterprises in Key West, described the UNESCO proposal as "academically driven by archaeologists." The concern is that wrecks will simply sit and decay further while governments decide what course of action to take.

. . "We try to educate the public in acknowledging the private sector is just as interested in preserving our past as the archaeologist," said Clyne, who works with many archaeologists at Mel Fisher Enterprises. "Our history is being lost by the very people who are claiming they want to preserve it."

. . Private salvages, like Clyne’s, bring up not just gold, silver and coins, but also nails, planks of wood, gun barrels and rusted knots of metal. Each artifact is painstakingly soaked in tubs for reverse electrolysis, cleaned, polished, numbered, documented and catalogued as part of an effort to record historically significant data about these wrecks.

. . To the delight of ProSEA and others fighting the movement, the United States was the sole country to voice its opposition at the UNESCO conference held in Paris last year. The deciding vote, however, could come at this year’s conference in April.

Dive Report- A Division of -EMap- Peterson Publishing © 2000