The Flying Prostitute found in a northern lake may end up in the hands of government after all -- as long as the men who found her get a salvage fee.

John Jasman, one of two Alberta brothers who found the Second World War bomber at the bottom of Watson Lake in the Yukon, says he's perfectly willing to see the B-26 Marauder in a museum.

"They want to keep the airplane but that's all right with me as long as I get my salvage expenses," Jasman said Monday. "I've no use for a twin-engine bomber anyway."

In June, Jasman and his brother Brian found the nose cone of the Flying Prostitute -- so nicknamed because the plane's short wing span gave it no visible means of support -- and declared their intention to salvage the rest.

They were, however, immediately charged under the Yukon's heritage legislation, which is intended to prevent historic artifacts from leaving the territory.

The brothers were supposed to be in court last week, but the charges were quietly shelved as the territory began negotiating with the two over a salvage fee.

"We're in an offer-counter-offer situation right now to essentially make the charges under the Heritage Act go away and to settle our salvage claim over the aircraft," said Victoria lawyer Darren Miller, who represents the Jasmans.

Miller said the brothers no longer allege the airplane belongs to them, but the rules of salvage in the Canada Shipping Act gives them a right to claim a percentage of the Marauder's value.

The plane, a mass-produced object only a few decades old, doesn't meet the territorial legislation's definition of a historic object, Miller said. As well, the fact it was found on a lake bottom means that if the plane belongs to any government, it would be at the federal level.

Federal legislation takes precedence over territorial laws, Miller said.

Miller said no value has yet been placed on the wreck. But a lively private market exists for both Second-World War-era planes and their parts.

Miller said if talks with the territory break down, his clients will file a lawsuit against the federal government for the salvage fee.

The Marauder was one of six high-speed, medium-weight bombers being flown from the United States to Russia to help resist the Nazi invasion. It crashed on the way onto the ice of Watson Lake in January 1942.

There are dozens of relics like it along the old resupply path, which is called the Northwest Staging Route. The Marauder isn't even the only wreck in Watson Lake -- an old Lancaster bomber is visible from the surface.