After 1815, fishing boats from New England began visiting the Florida Keys in the winter to fish for the Havana market. These fishermen engaged in wrecking when the opportunity arose. With the acquisition of Florida by the United States in 1821 and the settlement of Key West in 1822, the New England fishermen-wreckers began moving their homes to Key West. Conflicts quickly developed with the Bahamian wreckers. U.S. Navy ships stopped and boarded Bahamian wreckers to check papers, and arrested two Bahamian captains on suspicion of smuggling slaves. American wreckers became increasingly hostile to Bahamian wreckers, and in 1825 the U.S. Congress passed a law requiring all goods salvaged in U.S. waters to be taken to an American port of entry. This measure created a great inconvenience for the Bahamian wreckers, as they had to take salvaged goods and ships to Key West before they could return home to the Bahamas. Some of them soon moved to Key West and acquired U.S. citizenship.