Louisiana ex rel. Guste v. M/V. Testbank
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
752 F.2d 1019 (5th Cir. 1985)
Two ships collided, spilling toxic PCP into a Louisiana shipping outlet, prompting the Coast Guard to close it and suspend all fishing and related commercial activity; numerous plaintiffs with varying degrees of connection to the water sued the responsible vessels (defendants) for resulting economic losses, and the district court and a Fifth Circuit panel allowed recovery only for commercial oystermen, shrimpers, crabbers, and fishermen who suffered physical damage to a proprietary interest, denying recovery to all other plaintiffs claiming purely economic loss. The full Fifth Circuit reheard the case en banc.
Whether physical damage to a proprietary interest may be abandoned as a prerequisite to recovery for economic loss in cases of unintentional maritime tort.