I wonder what his name is too, sounds like an interesting story. This sunken ship, was it a military ship? If not, who are they to demand he go and retrieve the treasure?
I believe he is thinking of
Mel Fisher
The “Atocha”
And things that did not really happen just in that manner…
YMMV
I thought this thread would be a lurid accout of carnal activity with a dwarf.
Dissapointed, I won’t be back.
Do those of you with legal knowledge think this will be a major factor in the case?
Oh, stop it! It’s not really midget-porn… 
Tom Gurr.
In 1968, the rule of thumb was that if you were outside the “three mile limit,” you were in international waters, and anything you found was subject to international salvage laws.
Gurr found the remains of a Spanish treasure ship, the San Jose De Las Animas, and merrily began looting it… and part way through the process, was served by Uncle Sam. They’d changed the law. The “three mile limit” now began at a different point, having to do with the outer reef, not the shoreline.
A much more detailed account can be found in They Found Treasure, by Robert F. Burgess. Or you could click here and scroll about halfway down the page for a brief mention of the case.
To answer tomndebb’s earlier question, the aircraft never became salvagable property. Under long-standing US and international law, once a vessel becomes property of a nation’s navy, it remains property of that navy forever. Thus, the sunken Bismark is still a ship of the German Navy, and the PT-109 is still a ship of the US Navy. When a WWII U-Boat is salvaged (as they are from time to time), permission (and assistance) from the German Government is required.
The US Navy for many years has applied this same standard to its aircraft. This is reasonably well-known within the aircraft salvage community, which is why there are few Corsairs left to salvage. At a total guess, this guy may not have been plugged into that community. The Air Force does not apply this same standard, and old USAAF planes are salvagable.