NMMA participates in congressional briefing on NOAA Fisheries' Proposed Vessel Speed Restrictions
by National Marine Manufacturers Association 15 Sep 17:50 PDT
NMMA participates in congressional briefing on NOAA Fisheries' Proposed Vessel Speed Restrictions © National Marine Manufacturers Association
NMMA this week participated in a Hill briefing hosted by OCEANA, which focused on NOAA's proposed rule to address ship strikes to endangered North Atlantic right whales and educated over 50 congressional staffers on the need for major revisions to NOAA's proposal in order to achieve the shared goal of protecting the North Atlantic right whale population.
As America's original conservationists, recreational boaters and anglers proactively support science-based efforts to conserve our marine ecosystems. Further, the boating and angling community has worked closely with the Biden administration to develop policies that strike a balanced approach between conservation and recreation access.
NOAA is proposing to broaden the current 10-knot speed restriction to include vessels 35 feet and larger (down from 65 feet); expand the go-slow zones to include virtually the entire Atlantic Coast, and extend these zone restrictions as long as seven months a year. Left unchanged, the proposal would curtail thousands of recreational boating and fishing trips each year, jeopardizing billions of dollars of economic impact, thousands of jobs and businesses, and the pastimes of tens of millions of Americans.
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