The Role of The Receiver of Wreck
The main task of the Receiver of Wreck is to process reports of wreck, in the interest of both finder and owner. This involves researching ownership and working with the finder, owner, archaeologists, museums, and other interested parties. The process of reporting wreck provides legal owners the opportunity to be reunited with their property and to ensure that law-abiding finders of wreck receive appropriate recognition in the form of a salvage award.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency administers Section 2 of the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973, which protects wrecks that are deemed dangerous by virtue of their contents. There is a strict no entry policy. This is in the interest of safety of both divers and members of the public. There are two wreck protected under Section 2 of the Act, the SS Richard Montgomery and the SS Castilian.
The Receiver of Wreck also undertakes the task of disposing of "Royal fish" in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. "Royal Fish" are dead whales, dolphins, porpoises and sturgeon. This is an ancient right dating back to Edward II's reign which falls under the Royal Prerogative.
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—Walter Benjamin (1892–1940)
“The old man had heard that there was a wreck and knew most of the particulars, but he said that he had not been up there since it happened. It was the wrecked weed that concerned him most ... and those bodies were to him but other weeds which the tide cast up, but which were of no use to him.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)