2015 by Monty Joynes (Author)

Mel Fisher was known as “The World’s Greatest Treasure Hunter.” He and his family established the Mel Fisher's Treasure Museum located in Sebastian, Florida and the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West, Florida. In addition to being a showcase for newly-found treasure, the Maritime Museum is a nationally recognized research and archaeology institution. And although Mel passed away in 1998, today this legend lives on in his son, Kim Fisher. For the past 25 years, Kim and his wife Lee continued the quest for treasure through their family business, Mel Fisher’s Treasures. Here is a fascinating look inside the business and personal lives of the most famous treasure hunting family of all times.

Mel Fisher's discovery of the Spanish treasure galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha, and its over $400 million treasure, off the Florida Keys made Mel and his family worldwide celebrities. Through the National Geographic DVD exclusive, Atocha: Quest for Treasure, the National Geographic Explorer series, “Quest for the Atocha” (Season 2, Episode 16), a spot on The Johnny CarsonShow, six books, a feature film, and intensive ongoing press coverage, the Atocha's fame has been established over the past three decades spanning multiple generations. Even today the search for the Atocha sterncastle continues. The find of a single chest of Muzo emeralds purported to be contents of the Atocha sterncastle alone would raise her bounty into the billions. Is it any wonder why 30 years later the search continues? As a leader in the field of oceanic survey technology, confidence is high that Mel Fisher’s Treasures will continue the tradition of discovering untold riches from beneath the sea.

Treasure hunters have a different genome than most of their fellow human beings. They are programmed to “go where no one has gone before.” They possess an indomitable drive to explore and to solve mysteries. They are risk takers extraordinaire. For Love and Treasure is about such individuals who lead a legendary treasure salvage company into the ocean depths of the next great discovery. Meeting these unique characters on the page is a kind of treasure, too.

For Love and Treasure: The Life and Times of the World's Most Successful Treasure Hunting Family