Opinion ID: 78415
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Codification of the Common Law

Text: Throughout our nation's history, Congress has enacted statutes codifying common law doctrines protecting seamen. These statutes often excluded seamen aboard fishing vessels. Congress first imposed penalties upon merchant marine ships who fail to provide their crews with access to proper food and water in the Act of 1790, Ch. 29 § 9, which states: every ship or vessel ... bound on a voyage across the Atlantic ocean, shall, at the time of leaving the last port from whence she sails, have on board ... at least sixty gallons of water, one hundred pounds of salted flesh meat, and one hundred pounds of wholesome ship-bread, for every person on board.... 1 Stat. 135 (emphasis added). This protection applied only to ships on transatlantic voyages and was thus inapplicable to local commercial fishing vessels. See The Ianthe, 12 F. Cas. 1145, 1146 (D.Me.1856) (The fishing trade ... is, and always has been, regulated by its own appropriate and peculiar system of laws, and the Act of 1790 cannot be made to reach an ordinary fishing voyage). In 1873, Congress required the master of a vessel bound to a foreign port to contract with each individual aboard, and specify a scale of provisions that would be provided each seaman. 53 U.S.C. § 4511, Rev. Stat. 878. This statute also required fishing vessels enter into contracts with their crews, but did not require a scale of required provisions aboard fishing vessels. In 1898, Congress amended the statute to modify the statutory scale of required provisions, and expressly stated that these food requirements shall not apply to fishing or whaling vessels or yachts. Rev. Stat. Supp. 906, 908 (1898); H.R.Rep. No. 55-1657 at 2 (1898). In 1983, Congress again revised the maritime law, now codified as Title 46 of the United States Code. Pub.L. No. 98-89, 97 Stat. 500 (1983). 46 U.S.C. §§ 10301-21 govern the rights of seaman on foreign and intercoastal voyages. [2] Chapter 103 requires the vessel's owner or agent to form a written agreement with each seaman. This agreement must include a scale of the provisions that are to be provided each seaman. 46 U.S.C. § 10302(b)(6). This agreement must also specify, [a] seaman shall be served at least 3 meals a day that total at least 3,100 calories, including adequate water and adequate protein, vitamins, and minerals in accordance with the United States Recommended Daily Allowances. 46 U.S.C. § 10303. The statutory protections afforded seamen aboard fishing vessels or on shorter voyages is narrower than that afforded seamen on foreign and intercoastal voyages. 46 U.S.C. §§ 10601-03 govern the rights of a fishing vessel's crew. Section 10601 requires the vessel's owner or agent to make an [] agreement in writing with each seaman which specifies the [agreement's] period of effectiveness; the terms of compensation; and other agreed terms. In contrast to Chapter 103, Chapter 106 does not require any guarantee for the provision of food or beverage aboard the fishing vessel. Chapter 106's savings clause states only that [t]his section does not affect a common law right of a seaman to bring an action to recover the seaman's share of the fish or proceeds. 46 U.S.C. § 10602(c). 46 U.S.C. § 10501-09 similarly governs the rights of seamen on coastwise voyages. [3] It also requires the formation of a written agreement with each seaman. However, this agreement need not contain... a scale of provisions. 46 U.S.C. § 10502(c). Like Chapter 106, and in contrast to Chapter 103, Chapter 105 does not require the provision of food or water to the crew on coastwise voyages. Congress has specifically instructed that marine employees on foreign and intercoastal voyages are to receive three meals a day, while omitting a similar provision in its statutory scheme governing fishing vessels and vessels on coastwise voyages. Where Congress includes particular language in one section of a statute but omits it in another section of the same Act, it is generally presumed that Congress acts intentionally and purposely in the disparate inclusion or exclusion. CBS, Inc. v. PrimeTime 24 Joint Venture, 245 F.3d 1217, 1225-26 (11th Cir.2001). As we have written before, we must presume that Congress said what it meant and meant what it said. Shotz v. City of Plantation, 344 F.3d 1161, 1167 (11th Cir. 2003). Congress thus intended to exempt the masters of fishing vessels and vessels on shorter journeys from the obligation to provide food and water to the crew. Indeed, 46 U.S.C. § 10301(b) specifies that the requirements of Chapter 103 do not apply to a vessel on which the seamen are entitled by custom or agreement to share in the profit or result of a voyage, and 46 U.S.C. § 10303(c) provides that its guarantee of the provision of meals does not apply to a fishing or whaling vessel or a yacht. Federal statutory law simply does not require that meals be provided to crew members of commercial fishing vessels.