SYSTEMWIDE ARCHEOLOGY INVENTORY PROGRAM

In 1750, a Spanish frigate named La Galga was driven aground on Chincoteague Island in a storm while escorting a convoy of treasure ships from Havana, Cuba, to Cadiz, Spain. The ships crew salvaged her cargo and other contents, including treasure, before she broke up. Her remains have yet to be positively identified. In 1802, a Spanish treasure ship named Juno wrecked and sank off Assateague Island. Her remains have yet to be positively identified.

Sea Hunt, Inc., a commercial salvage company based in Manchester, New Hampshire, has been conducting archival research and remote sensing surveys of two tracts of submerged land off Assateague Island to locate the wreck sites of La Galga and Juno In 1997, they applied for and obtained a permit from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to locate and recover underwater historic property. The permit gives Sea Hunt, Inc., a fair share of the objects recovered or, at the discretion of the Virginia State Historic Preservation Office, the cash value of its fair share. Fair share is defined as 75 percent, with the Commonwealth of Virginia retaining title to 25 percent. In addition, in 1997, Sea Hunt, Inc., applied for and obtained a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge a multitude of holes in the sand to recover buried artifacts.

The Commonwealth of Virginia owns the bottomlands within Assateague Island National Seashore and claims title to abandoned shipwrecks located on its bottomlands. The Department of the Interiors Solicitors Office and the Department of Justice have advised the park that it has regulatory authority over the waters but not the bottomlands. As a result, the park can issue a special use permit governing the salvage company s boating activity but cannot prohibit the salvage activity.

At the request of the Service, Sea Hunt, Inc., has agreed to postpone entering Assateague Island National Seashore to conduct its dredging and recovery activity until a special use permit is issued. While proceeding to process the special use permit, the National Park Service notified the Embassy of Spain about the pending commercial salvage activity. Personnel from the National Park Service, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration met with Spanish Embassy personnel to discuss preservation and protection of archeological and historic resources, including Spanish shipwrecks in U.S. waters. Personnel from the U.S. Department of State subsequently met with Spanish Embassy personnel to discuss matters of sovereign immunity over Spanish shipwrecks in U.S. waters. On February 26, 1998, the National Park Service received a letter from the Embassy of Spain asserting that La Galga and Juno are the property of Spain and asking the Service to take whatever steps are appropriate to protect the ships from disturbance. The National Park Service is consulting with the Solicitors Office and the Department of Justice on how to proceed.