Bard v. the Silver Wave

CHESNUT, District Judge.

This case is a libel in admiralty by certain holders of alleged maritime liens to sell the motor boat Silver Wave which is now in the possession of the Tidewater Fisheries, an agency of the State of Maryland, pursuant to a seizure and confiscation of the boat for violation of a Maryland statute regarding conservation of oyster beds. The principal question in the case is whether the maritime liens respectively, if otherwise valid, survive this forfeiture of the boat. The question arises from the following facts which I find from the evidence.

The Silver Wave is a motor…