Category: Health & Safety

Extended and New Slow Zones to Protect Right Whales

4/14/2021 - NOAA Fisheries announces the extension of two Slow Zones set to expire south of Nantucket and establishes another Slow Zone southeast of Chatham, MA. On April 9, 2021 several aggregations of right whales were detected south of Nantucket, MA by the NOAA North Atlantic Right Whale Sighting Survey and southeast of… SEE MORE

USCG Changes Certificate of Documentation to 5 Years

4/14/2021 - Of the nation’s nearly 12 million registered recreational boats, those owners who federally document their vessels, or about 165,000 boats, will be spared the hassle of renewing their U.S. Coast Guard Certificate of Documentation every year as a result of recent rule change that now makes documentation valid for five years.… SEE MORE

https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/manatee/2021/04/01/piney-point-phosphate-plant-leak-manatee-county-florida-declares-local-state-emergency/4843453001/?utm_source=heraldtribune-Daily%20Briefing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_briefing&utm_term=hero

Manatee County Declares Local State of Emergency for Piney Point Leak

4/5/2021 - By Jesse Mendoza. Manatee County commissioners declared a local state of emergency on Thursday evening in response to a leak at the former Piney Point fertilizer processing plant. The leak has put phosphogypsum stacks at Piney Point in danger of collapsing, which has led the owner, HRK Holdings, under an emergency order… SEE MORE

Newport Names New Harbormaster

3/31/2021 - After a three-month search, the City of Newport has named former Block Island Harbormaster Stephen C. Land to the City’s top harbor post. Land assumes the role following the sudden passing of longtime Harbormaster Timothy J. Mills in December. Over the course of a three-month long search process, a total… SEE MORE

Clearwater Beach, FL - Image copyright Michelle Maria, Pixabay license

News from Our Coasts: March 2021

3/25/2021 - NEWS & UPDATES FOR MARCH Updates from US Harbors News & Virtual Events from Our Partners Updates from Our Coastal Business Community Photos of the Month Updates from US Harbors US Coast Guard announces new law requiring use of engine cut-off switches on recreational vessels less than 26 feet… SEE MORE

Lobster Boats Gather to Protest Floating Wind Turbine

3/24/2021 - By Don Carrigan. Scores of Maine lobstermen left the docks Sunday morning to protest plans to build a floating offshore wind turbine near Monhegan Island. The protest rally included about 80 boats, according to several of the fishermen, and was held a dozen miles offshore, close to the spot where… SEE MORE

https://www.boatus.com/news-room/Images/Releases/Found%20VHF%20Radio%20Tips%20for%20springtime%20photo%203_23_21.jpg

Boating 101: Get Your VHF Radio Ready for the Season

3/24/2021 - Courtesy of BoatUS Foundation. In recreational boating, cellphones are just fine for routine communications. So why do you need a VHF radio – either a handheld or fixed mount – on your boat? Because in an emergency it’s the only thing that can directly connect you to the U.S. Coast… SEE MORE

Boaters Answer the Call in Alaska

3/22/2021 - By Daniel Harding Jr. Paws digging into the frozen earth, breath floating skyward in the negative-30-degree air. Musher Leonhard Seppala strains to see through the blizzard and otherworldly landscape ahead of him. The year was 1925, and Seppala had just completed the harrowing final leg of a sled dog relay… SEE MORE

Endangered North Atlantic right whales are dying at an alarming rate, with heavy losses in Canadian waters.

Covid Relief Package has Some Help for Seafood

3/18/2021 - By Jessica Hathaway. President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law on Thursday, March 11, almost one year after the CARES Act established the country’s first federal coronavirus relief bill. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is the largest spending package in U.S. history and contains significantly less relief for the commercial… SEE MORE

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/04/27/charlotte-north-carolina-radar-gap/

Flood Knocks U.S. Buoy Data Offline

3/16/2021 - By Mike Schuler. A flood at the U.S. National Weather Service’s headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland has knocked out power to servers processing NOAA’s marine buoy data, rendering the data inaccessible to the public. A timeline for when the data will be restored has not yet been determined. The NOAA… SEE MORE