MMS ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES PROGRAM: ONGOING STUDIES
MMS OCS Region:	Gulf of Mexico
Planning Area:	Central and Eastern
Title:	Shipwreck Research in the New Orleans Notarial Archives (GM-09-x22)
Total Cost: $24,900	Period of Performance: FY 2010
Conducting Organization:	Earth Search, Inc.
MMS Contact:	Melanie Damour
Description: Background: The Minerals Management Service (MMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, is charged with the responsibility of considering the effects of its actions on significant cultural resources on the Outer Continental Shelf (OSC) of the United States, from state waters to the limit of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This program arose out of a variety of legislation enacted to ensure proper management and protection of the nation’s cultural heritage. The most pertinent of these laws are the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966 (as amended), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) of 1978. Since the 1970s, MMS has contracted several studies aimed at identifying historic shipwrecks that might be present on the OCS. This has resulted in an in-house database with over 3,000 entries, mostly derived from secondary sources and other databases. Despite this effort, several historic shipwrecks have been discovered in industry surveys on the OCS that appear to have no corresponding analog in the MMS database. It was long believed that these vessels were simply lost to the historical record and that documentation on the event of their loss was no longer extant. It now appears, however, that previous researchers overlooked a potentially rich source of information at the New Orleans Notarial Archives (NONA). NONA houses the City of New Orleans notary records from 1733 to 1970. A great many of these records relate to bills of sale, wills, and property inheritance matters, but interspersed among these are recorded “sea protests,” which describe in detail any loss of property or accident at sea occurring to any vessel leaving from or arriving at the Port of New Orleans, including shipwrecks. Over 700 such sea protests are believed to be contained within the notarial record books. The notarial records reflect New Orleans’ governance at the time of their creation and may appear in French, Spanish, or English. The MMS has an interest in amassing and assessing this research as part of their mission to protect submerged cultural resources from potential effects of oil and gas-related activity. The data contained within these documents will assist MMS with identifying the age, function, and nationality of recent and future discoveries of historic shipwrecks on the OCS. This knowledge will also enhance MMS’ ability to employ adaptive management strategies in our regulation of OCS oil and gas activities to minimize impacts to significant cultural resources and prevent anthropogenic impacts.
Objectives: The objective of the study is to access the NONA collection to identify historic shipwrecks that may have been lost on the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) OCS. This archival source of historic information has not been previously accessed by researchers and promises to contain a wealth of unknown information about historic shipwrecks in the GOM.
Methods: The objectives of this study will be achieved by locating, copying, translating, transcribing, and cataloging sea protests contained within the NONA collection between 1733 and 1950, to add this information to the existing GIS-based MMS shipwreck database, and to produce a written report. MMS is seeking these sources detailing shipwreck losses occurring within the U.S. EEZ of the northern GOM.
Products: Products may include, but are not limited to, archival and historical documentation, technical report, and a GIS database of shipwrecks.
Importance to MMS: This information will help MMS fulfill its requirements to consider impacts to archaeological resources by oil and gas activities under Section 106 of the NHPA.
Current Status: This study was awarded in September 2009. A post-award meeting is tentatively scheduled for October 2009.
Final Report Due:	September 2010
Publications:
Affiliated WWW Sites:
Revised date:	September 2009
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