Letter to the Editor
The Wall Street Journal
200 Liberty Street
New York, N.Y. 10281

Dear Editor,

In Paris, from 26 March through 7 April 2001, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, will be holding a conference to finalize laws covering submerged cultural resources throughout the world's waters. The agenda for this conference was drawn up mainly by government archaeologists with one of the objectives to completely de-commercializing the removal of cultural materials from the many member countries shipwrecks, including waters belonging to no country.

>From the UNESCO Paris Conference Agenda, to wit:

RULES CONCERNING ACTIVITIES
DIRECTED AT UNDERWATER CULTURAL HERITAGE

1.(a) Underwater cultural heritage means all traces of human existence which have been partially or totally underwater, periodically or continuously, for at least 100 years including: (It goes on to list about everything imaginable.)

Rule 1. The protection of underwater cultural heritage is best achieved through in situ (left in original site) preservation, which shall be considered as a first option.

Rule 2. Since the commercial exploitation of underwater cultural heritage for trade or speculation or its irretrievable dispersal is fundamentally incompatible with the protection and proper management of the cultural heritage, underwater cultural heritage shall not be traded, sold, bought or bartered as items of commercial value. Considering the commercial sector must sell certain redundant items like coins and considering the preponderance of public approval and enjoyment in treasure salvor's books and TV footage such as the salvage of the ship of gold Central America, Nuestra Senora de Atocha, Silver Shoals treasure ship Concepcion, and many more commercial finds, one has to wonder why the UN wants to keep this strictly an academic pursuit, effectively banning the private sector from salvaging shipwrecks over 100 years old?

Many government archaeologists do not consider Spanish Colonial and other treasure wrecks worthy of their skills. Why would this Conference want to prohibit the commercial sector, which uses similar archaeological recovery guidelines, from doing the job? This is even more confusing when one considers the commercial sector uses no taxpayer money whereas government-funded archaeological projects are usually totally dependent on government funding.

Clearly, written as it is, the agenda for this conference will intentionally "Throw the baby out along with the bath water"

No clear thinking UN representative, ours included, should be a signatory to this attempt by archaeologists to create an exclusive field of endeavor. In its present form the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage is misleading and exclusionary. It is in need of severe amendment.

Jack Haskins
Commercial Historic Shipwreck Salvor