unclear what the permit allowed, and what you did...
Basically, it appears you had a search and identify permit...not a recovery permit...
Removing diagnostic artefacts usually means removing an artefact that can date the site.
It is not a permit to recover anything more than a few artefacts as necessary to date the site.
That being said...how much did you recover from the site?
Did you endeavour to date the artefacts or identify the artefacts?
In the A1-31 Permits process there are three phase's, Explore/survey then once complete as GME did 7 times, you go to phase dig and ID what you found as we did 7 times.
So yes GME had 14 permits in 3 years of 3 sq miles each and completed all of them plus an additional 80 square miles off shore while waiting on the State to issue these permits.
A diagnostic artifact can help start to ID the shipwreck, we removed 2 cannon balls, 2-3 ballast stones and one pick axe head.
Cannon balls can tell you if the cannon u have found match the balls, and if there are other size cannon, ballast place of possible loading, oil axe dating but wide range but still and piece of the puzzle,
GME did have permission in the permit/contract we had, and I have letters/emails from the government agreeing to recover such items and well as others.
We were at Salvage stage and had turned in out research design application, we had done all we could have done at the 2nd phase.
Never once in the 26 reports that I turned in was there a problem not once until we asked for a recovery permit.
So there is five ships and 6 sites, France has even admitted to this, but only one seams to be French even though I say not 100% sure and the map where the Trinity is at os 90 miles north.
GME doesn't care if it is French, its not a military ship, its a resupply ship as noted in all History of this event.
And even if it is A Navy ship, (the French did not have a Navy until the 17th Century), and its not.
GME was under contract and should be paid for the work that we did.
I am not saying that anyone should be able to go out and Find sovereign ships, with weapons on it and claim a fee as James Gould would have you believe, the unethical attorney for France that does nothing buy lie, in our case ( not sovereign as to the fact it is a commercial action and project) They are doing with the State of Florida. read the ship wrecks act its pretty clear.