Possible New Regulations

[HangOutdoors]

SMH

Biden administration boating proposal would be ‘greatest regulatory overreach’ of its kind, critics warn | Fox News

 

[zipper]

Here is a NOAA statement on time and locations without all the politics/hysteria in the article. Most boats I have seen on this group are well under 35'.

Reducing Vessel Strikes to North Atlantic Right Whales

North Atlantic right whale vessel speed restrictions reduce the likelihood of lethal collisions between vessels and these endangered whales.

www.fisheries.noaa.gov

NOAA proposes new vessel speed regulations to protect North Atlantic right whales

Agency also releases a “roadmap” for use of ropeless gear to boost endangered species recovery

www.noaa.gov

 

[Judge]

Down here in southwest Florida we have many areas (mostly Intercoastal / close to shore) that are designated as Manatee Zones. Speeds can be limited to Idle, Slow / No Wake or 25MPH Max. The Slow / No Wake and 25MPH Zones can also be dependent on the time of year.

I'm not an activist but I don't have an issue with trying to protect endangered species. Now I will say limiting speeds to 10 knots out to 100 miles from the coast seem to be a stretch.... especially with only 5 deaths from strikes in 15 years and only 350 whales left. That seems like hitting one would be the proverbial needle in a haystack.

I have to think limiting the speed for 35' and up boats would hurt the fishing industry and maybe other industries as well given the extra time it would take to get back to shore in some cases. What maybe took 5 hours could now take a 1/2 day.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Up to 100 miles off shore and max 10 knots seems dangerous to control a vessel or get on plane if needed, depending on conditions. I have no problem in protecting endangered species, but there needs to be some common sense about it. I also totally agree with No Wake Zones, etc.

 

[Judge]

Up to 100 miles off shore and max 10 knots seems dangerous to control a vessel or get on plane if needed, depending on conditions. I have no problem in protecting endangered species, but there needs to be some common sessense about it. I also totally agree with No Wake Zones, etc.

I'm not an expert and haven't been on a trawler but some of them only cruise about 8 - 10 knots I believe..... so control wouldn't be much of an issue. There are fishing and other vessels that will do twice that and more over 35' so control could be an issue for some of them depending on the hull design.

One things for sure.... it could add a lot of time to get back to shore from 100 miles out for some boats.

 

[Ronnie]

I know misery loves company but I’m glad these proposals only involve the East Coast, for now anyway. Even if the scope were revised to include the west coast, I don’t think there are many jet boaters that use their boats in the Pacific Ocean on a regular basis.

 

[Babin Farms]

, but there needs to be some common sense about it.

That’s funny!!! There’s no room in Gov’t for something like that…

 

[zipper]

This does not mean anything different for anybody out there in a Yamaha jet boat, let her rip. Vessels over 35' only.

 

[NewGuy]

Wow - can't wait for the 365FSH with quad SVHOs.

 

[Bluewater272]

This is such an asinine regulation. You know what else carries a large threat to large marine mammal life (in addition to others)? Underwater noise from manmade activities. They're planning a huge bank of windmills off the jersey shore - guess that's all good for the whales too?

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Saw this on boat test a while back. If you really dig into the issue the science is bad, for example; “ Hugelmeyer pointed out that the figures NOAA used to calculate the risk of whale strike incorrectly assumed that all boats over 35 feet have a draft of 30 feet: "This is a great example of the massive errors that are in this proposed rule."

This just like the land use closures I fought for so many years. Many of the areas I used to ride on that were closed due “critical environmental concern” now have housing tracts on them, shopping malls, or vast solar or wind farms. In one such housing development that was deemed okay to build on where the govt thought there would possibly be 25 desert tortoises, they found over 500 that were placed in a fenced off area. Know what they did with those endangered tortoises? They, being the govt, euthanized them all, no joke.


5 whales in 15 years? That’s not just a needle in a hay stack, that’s like a needle in an entire 1000 acre hay field, wait, think about that for a minute, 100 miles out, along the entire Atlantic sea board of the US? Do you have any concept of how much area that is? Again, just like the WEMO national scenic area, 3.8 M acres closed to off roading, the off roaders were about the only ones that went there. All that for the endangered desert tortoise who’s biggest threat was the Raven and its 15,000% population explosion since 1948. How do I know that? I did a research paper on it when I was in college.

This is all about burning less fuel.. and if you think for one second this will be limited to the Atlantic Ocean then you are a fools fool. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[zipper]

... 100 miles out, along the entire Atlantic sea board of the US?

I agree with some of your argument, however the quoted statement is just false. The link above lists all the coordinates. It is not the entire Atlantic seaboard, 100 miles out. The areas are spotty along the coast and 20nm out from shore.




There are further distances off Cape Cod and South Georgia/North Florida.

We know that Florida is full of restrictions for Manatee. Even up here there are restrictions/closures for for fish during spawning. There are areas you just can't fish in at certain times.

 

[Bluewater272]

I agree with some of your argument, however the quoted statement is just false. The link above lists all the coordinates. It is not the entire Atlantic seaboard, 100 miles out. The areas are spotty along the coast and 20nm out from shore.

View attachment 192059
View attachment 192061

There are further distances off Cape Cod and South Georgia/North Florida.

We know that Florida is full of restrictions for Manatee. Even up here there are restrictions/closures for for fish during spawning. There are areas you just can't fish in at certain times.

Those are the current speed management areas, this is what is proposed for the Northeast:




Unabashed hogwash. The dates don't have much material impact on recreational boaters considering the climate up here, but this will have a massive impact on sportfishing.

 

[zipper]

Those are the current speed management areas, this is what is proposed for the Northeast:

View attachment 192063


Unabashed hogwash. The dates don't have much material impact on recreational boaters considering the climate up here, but this will have a massive impact on sportfishing.

I don't know your source, but the NOAA information I am referencing was published on July 29, 2022. Again, vessels over 35'. I don't agree with the way they derived their conclusions either.
This rule already existed for vessels 65' and over. The big change is adding 35' to 65' vessels.

NOAA proposes new vessel speed regulations to protect North Atlantic right whales

Agency also releases a “roadmap” for use of ropeless gear to boost endangered species recovery

www.noaa.gov

Edit: found the powerpoint from August 2022.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I agree with some of your argument, however the quoted statement is just false. The link above lists all the coordinates. It is not the entire Atlantic seaboard, 100 miles out. The areas are spotty along the coast and 20nm out from shore.

View attachment 192059
View attachment 192061

There are further distances off Cape Cod and South Georgia/North Florida.

We know that Florida is full of restrictions for Manatee. Even up here there are restrictions/closures for for fish during spawning. There are areas you just can't fish in at certain times.

Thanks for the clarification!

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

From my friend who spent a fair amount of time sport fishing in the big leagues out there .

This has been discussed by the environmental wackos for decades. Funny thing is that the Wright Whale which is the main species this legislation was originally at least intended to protect isn’t even aeronautically surveyed for census counts because there are so few of them found in the area they want to restrict. This is a straight up assault on day fisherman, these speed restrictions have only one intention-
To make it very difficult if not impossible for 35-50 foot yachts to day fish in the Gulf Stream. Looking into this in the past I could not find a documented incident that showed where a Wright whale had ever been fatally struck by a boat within the originally proposed speed control zone. Like most overreaching legislation it is an artificial problem created to grab control of something people would never tolerate.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I don't know your source, but the NOAA information I am referencing was published on July 29, 2022. Again, vessels over 35'. I don't agree with the way they derived their conclusions either.
This rule already existed for vessels 65' and over. The big change is adding 35' to 65' vessels.

NOAA proposes new vessel speed regulations to protect North Atlantic right whales

Agency also releases a “roadmap” for use of ropeless gear to boost endangered species recovery

www.noaa.gov

If you look at the power point presentation you’ll see where @seanmclean got his material from. Annnnd the red circle is just what I expected…



This wind energy bit is the same bs that was done in the Nevada desert to confiscate lands under legal contract to build a solar array… this incident led to a stand off with the fbi and some patriots. The resulting court case resulted in a massive rebuke from the federal judge to the fbi about killing all the ranchers cattle and destroying his property. The rancher was compensated for the loss of live stock and infrastructure all at the cost of the US taxpayers, and his 99 year lease under the agreed upon terms was upheld.

 

[zipper]

I see where he got it now. Reducing Vessel Strikes to North Atlantic Right Whales

 

[Bluewater272]

Yes, image is from the proposed rule in the federal register. Some of us have dreams of getting a bigger boat, LOL. Certainly won't be grabbing any fishing charters, canyons are 60+ miles out depending where you leave from.

 

[BlkGS]

Didn't read it all. A couple thoughts.

I don't see how NOAA has any authority or jurisdiction in this.

If we're worried about whale strikes, we should also be worried about the quantity of eagles being killed by windmills.

It's a good thing we don't have any other issues for the government to tackle like out of control inflation, massive border issues, crumbling infrastructure, an increasingly predatory higher education system, or rampant housing regulations that make property ownership increasingly out of reach for younger people.