KEY WEST, Fla. -- A federal judge has given the exclusive rights to a $400 million sunken treasure to Mel Fisher, who spent 16 years finding it, and dismissed a rival treasure hunter's claim to the booty from the Atocha.
U.S. District Judge Sidney Aronovitz, after two days of hearings, dismissed an admiralty claim filed by Richard Lightner that overlapped part of a claim area being worked by Fisher's Treasure Salvors Inc.
Aronovitz did not mince his words Wednesday in ruling against Lightner.
'He is doing nothing but attempting to come in on the Atocha wreck site,' the judge said. 'I am satisfied he is simply trying to take some of the finds of the Atocha.'
Fisher and his divers spent 16 years and millions of dollars searching for the scattered wreckage of the Atocha, a Spanish galleon that sank 41 miles west of Key West during a 1622 hurricane while hauling a king's ransom in gold, silver and jewels back to Spain.
On July 20, Fisher's divers found the Atocha's main cargo -- 1,200 silver bars and chests of gold and silver coins estimated to be worth $400 million.
Lightner, claiming he had found the wreck of another vessel nearby, filed for salvage rights to an area that overlapped some of the Atocha wreck site.
Aronovitz, in addition to ruling against Lightner, expanded Fisher's claim area from 13 square miles to 18 square miles and extended his salvage rights to the area, which were scheduled to expire Sept. 26, for another three years.
Before the judge ruled, archaeologist R. Duncan Mathewson III told the court the Atocha was a unique 'window into seafaring life and times.'
'Well over half of the hull is still intact and in very good condition,' Mathewson said. He emphasized the area must be excavated carefully.
Mathewson said his three-member team is recording, graphing and photographing every step of the salvage operation and told the judge 'I am inviting a number of research scholars to join me.'
'This is such a unique time capsule,' he said. 'A window into seafaring life and times. There is only one Atocha in our galaxy.'