Flores v. American Seafoods Co.

GOULD, Circuit Judge.

In this case we must clarify the requirements of a federal maritime statute whose origins date back to the late eighteenth century. When enacted in 1792, the requirement that a fishing agreement must be “in writing” applied only to seamen fishing for cod. Congress has gradually broadened the scope of this requirement, and it no longer includes any limitation based on the kind of fish that the seamen catch. When the events occurred that gave rise to-this litigation, the applicable statute, 46 U.S.C. § 10601(a) (2000), provided simply that a “fishing agreement” must be “in…