Magnet fishing is legal in South Carolina, but the state regulates it more directly than most. If you might recover a submerged artifact — and you often can’t tell what’s on your magnet until it surfaces — you need a hobby license from the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology (SCIAA). Trespass law, environmental statutes, and federal navigation rules shape the rest of what you can and can’t do.
Get the Hobby License First
SCIAA issues a hobby license for small-scale, noncommercial recovery of submerged artifacts on state-controlled submerged lands. It costs $5 for South Carolina residents and $10 for nonresidents, and it’s valid for six months.1South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Section 54-7-670 – Hobby Licenses You apply through SCIAA on a standard form.
The Underwater Antiquities Act of 1991 makes it illegal to knowingly recover, collect, excavate, or disturb any submerged archaeological or paleontological property on state-controlled submerged lands without that license.2South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 54, Chapter 7 – Shipwrecks and Salvage Operations There is no accidental-discovery exception. A rusted lump of metal can turn out to be a colonial tool or a Civil War relic, and the law doesn’t care whether you were looking for it. That is why the license matters even if you think you’re only pulling up scrap: it covers you for what you didn’t expect to find.
The license carries conditions. Your recovery must be temporary, intermittent, and recreational. Anyone collecting from state property, including riverbanks and beaches below the mean low watermark, needs one. If you find something that looks historically significant, you have to report it to SCIAA. Keeping quiet doesn’t protect you, and SCIAA can attach any conditions it considers appropriate and revoke the license if you break them.
Where You Can Drop a Magnet
South Carolina holds its navigable waters in trust for the public, so you generally have a right to access navigable rivers, lakes, and coastal waters for recreation. Getting to the water is one question. What you pull out of it is another, and that is where the hobby license and the rules below come in.
Plenty of water in the state is privately owned. Ponds, non-navigable lakes, and stretches of rivers running through private land are controlled by the landowner, and the line between navigable public water and private water isn’t always obvious from the bank. Magnet fishing on private water without permission is trespass. Under South Carolina’s trespass statute, entering premises after being warned off or refusing to leave when asked carries a fine of up to $200 or up to 30 days in jail.3South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 16, Chapter 11 – Section 16-11-620 Landowners along navigable waters also hold riparian rights over the water adjacent to their property.
Ownership of what you recover matters too. On private land, finds generally belong to the landowner. Permission to fish is not the same as permission to keep. If you’re arranging access with a property owner, settle the question of who keeps any valuable finds in advance.
Environmental and Navigation Limits
South Carolina’s Pollution Control Act makes it illegal to discharge organic or inorganic matter into state waters without a permit.4South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Section 48-1-90 – Causing or Permitting Pollution of Environment Prohibited Dragging a strong magnet across a riverbed can stir up contaminated sediment, particularly near old industrial sites and bridges. If that disturbance damages aquatic or plant life, you can be liable to the state for damages.
Federally, the Rivers and Harbors Act prohibits creating unauthorized obstructions in navigable waters.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 33 USC 403 – Obstruction of Navigable Waters Generally Magnet fishing itself isn’t an obstruction, but ropes and heavy magnets left near boat ramps, docks, or shipping channels can become one. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers handles enforcement, so treat areas with active commercial traffic with extra care.
If You Pull Up a Firearm
Guns are one of the most common magnet fishing finds. The safest step is to call local law enforcement without cleaning, moving, or handling the weapon more than necessary. It could be stolen or tied to an open case, and rough handling can compromise evidence.
South Carolina law sets a formal process for found handguns turned over to police. The agency must hold the weapon for 90 days while making a diligent effort to determine whether it’s stolen, whether it was used in a crime, and who the true owner is. During that period, it must advertise the handgun’s description twice in a local newspaper. After 90 days, if no owner comes forward, the person who turned in the gun can request it back, provided they can legally possess a firearm and they pay the advertising costs.6South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 16, Chapter 23 – Section 16-23-55
No South Carolina statute makes it a standalone crime to keep a found gun without reporting it. The practical risk is what matters: possessing a stolen weapon or one linked to a crime creates problems that a single phone call avoids.
If You Pull Up Ordnance or Hazardous Material
South Carolina’s military history means unexploded ordnance sits at the bottom of some waterways. If your magnet grabs something that looks like a munition, shell, or military device, stop and back away. Do not try to detach it. Do not use a radio or cell phone near the object, because certain fuzes can be activated by radio frequencies. Mark the spot if you can do so safely, move well away, and call 911 or local law enforcement, who will bring in Explosive Ordnance Disposal.
You may also find unknown chemical containers, leaking batteries, or other hazardous debris. Environmental enforcement is now handled by the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services (SCDES) after the former Department of Health and Environmental Control was split into two agencies in July 2024.7South Carolina Department of Environmental Services. DHEC Restructuring Don’t throw hazardous items back in the water or into a regular trash can. Contact SCDES or local authorities for disposal guidance.
Penalties
The consequences depend on which rule you break.
- Recovering submerged artifacts without a hobby license, or violating its conditions, is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $50. Each day the violation continues counts as a separate offense, and SCIAA can revoke your license.8South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 54, Chapter 7 – Section 54-7-810
- Violating the terms of a commercial salvage license carries a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment for up to one year, or both.8South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 54, Chapter 7 – Section 54-7-810
- Excavating or salvaging a sunken warship within three miles of the coast where human remains are present or believed to be present, without approval from the Department of Administration, is a felony punishable by a fine at the court’s discretion or up to five years in prison.9South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 54, Chapter 7 – Section 54-7-815
- Trespassing carries a fine of up to $200 or up to 30 days in jail.3South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 16, Chapter 11 – Section 16-11-620
- Civil penalties under the Pollution Control Act can reach $10,000 per day. Willful or grossly negligent violations are criminal misdemeanors carrying fines between $500 and $25,000 per day, imprisonment for up to two years, or both.10South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 48, Chapter 1 – Pollution Control Act
The $50 hobby-license fine looks trivial on its own. The per-day stacking provision changes that math quickly, and the harder cost is often the confiscation of recovered items and the loss of the license itself, which shuts you out of legal artifact recovery in South Carolina waters.