Comments on: Two California fishermen pretend they are maritime pirates and hold an oceanographic mooring for ransom https://deepseanews.com/2016/03/two-california-fisherman-pretend-they-are-maritime-pirates-and-hold-an-oceanographic-mooring-for-ransom/ All the news on the Earth's largest environment. Mon, 04 Apr 2016 15:45:43 +0000 hourly 1 https://csrtech.com By: Judy Rizoli White https://deepseanews.com/2016/03/two-california-fisherman-pretend-they-are-maritime-pirates-and-hold-an-oceanographic-mooring-for-ransom/#comment-18516 Mon, 04 Apr 2016 15:45:43 +0000 https://www.deepseanews.com/?p=56841#comment-18516 In reply to Mark Chaffey.

Being a Federal offense, should they go to prison if they don’t return it?

]]> By: Mark Chaffey https://deepseanews.com/2016/03/two-california-fisherman-pretend-they-are-maritime-pirates-and-hold-an-oceanographic-mooring-for-ransom/#comment-18513 Sun, 03 Apr 2016 16:37:38 +0000 https://www.deepseanews.com/?p=56841#comment-18513 The research mooring belongs to the government. The data it generates is for the benefit of all citizens. If you found a navigation buoy broken loose would you truck it home and tell the Coast Guard it’s yours and they have to buy it back? Get serious.

]]> By: Dr. Martini https://deepseanews.com/2016/03/two-california-fisherman-pretend-they-are-maritime-pirates-and-hold-an-oceanographic-mooring-for-ransom/#comment-18500 Thu, 31 Mar 2016 22:12:57 +0000 https://www.deepseanews.com/?p=56841#comment-18500 In reply to Robert.

To be fair, by your reasoning the fisherman that picked it up should also be accountable for paying for the damage to the instruments once it was picked up from the ocean, cleaned and then carted away in a truck. Are they prepared to do that?

And if it is ocean trash, why did they claim ownership in the first place and try to sell back to the USGS in the first place?

To get down to it, we could fill pages swapping stories on past run-ins between people on boats and scientific instruments. Intentional or not, many end with unfortunate outcomes for the equipment of both parties. But like I said before, these encounters are usually cordial and end up being resolved amicably. If that is what these fisherman really wanted, they shouldn’t have started off by insisting the mooring was theirs and demanding money for it. That is stealing and they are not above the law either.

]]> By: Robert https://deepseanews.com/2016/03/two-california-fisherman-pretend-they-are-maritime-pirates-and-hold-an-oceanographic-mooring-for-ransom/#comment-18498 Thu, 31 Mar 2016 18:10:49 +0000 https://www.deepseanews.com/?p=56841#comment-18498 You are correct, it’s your mooring. Once it broke loose it became ocean trash. You are accountable for the damage it causes and financially responsible to make the damaged parties whole, regardless if your trash is “a drop in the bucket”. If you abandoned the mooring it’s his, if it broke loose you failed to properly secure it and it’s his. It’s not your ocean and you’re not above the law. Pay up or shut up.

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