This discussion comes from Kevin Wadlow on keynoter.com.

Boaters operating in Florida Bay waters of Everglades National Park must complete an online education course under a new regulation expected to take effect within months.

That pending rule prompted advisers to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to ponder whether a similar educational requirement could be adopted to help protect oceanic resources in the 2,900-square-mile sanctuary. he question returns to the volunteer sanctuary council at its next meeting, Oct. 18 in Ocean Reef on North Key Largo.

In August, Everglades National Park planner Fred Herling briefed the sanctuary council on the park’s new Florida Bay boating rules scheduled to “roll out in late 2016.” Those will require completion of a free one-hour online boat-operator course that focuses on “resource protection, safety [and] respectful boating.”

The course must be completed before boat owners can get an annual or seven-day permit to operate in park waters. Park boat permits likely will cost $50 per year or $25 for seven days, but fees may be phased in over a period of months. When enacted, fees to launch at the Flamingo ramp will be dropped.

Boat-permit proceeds, estimated at $500,000 annually, would help increase funding for on-the-water enforcement rangers, marker maintenance and marine research, Herling said.

Everglades National Park has authority to enact boat permit fees and operator-education requirements for Florida Bay waters that lie in its jurisdiction. The marine sanctuary lacks such authority.

With an updated management plan for the Keys sanctuary taking shape, now may be the time to seek a new boating-education rule, some council members suggested in August. Others expressed doubt, pointing to a complex maze of regulatory approvals needed at the state and federal level.

Advocates of boater education for sanctuary waters, largely intended to keep vessels from striking reefs or scarring shallow seagrass flats, have made their case since the national marine sanctuary’s inception in 1990. But enacting a sanctuary boating license remains little more than an uncertain concept.

The Oct. 18 agenda item, “Boater Education in the Florida Keys,” is scheduled for approximately 2:15 p.m. at the Ocean Reef Cultural Center.

“It’s essentially a continuation of the earlier discussion on the potential to seek something like Everglades National Park, whether it’s mandatory or voluntary,” Deputy Superintendent Beth Dieveney said Thursday.

Council members could ask for more specific information on the process or vote on a resolution.

The Sanctuary Advisory Council, comprising 20 appointed Keys representatives from community, business and conservation sectors, does not have rule-making authority. However, sanctuary staff generally give the council’s recommendations and guidance considerable weight.

Missing managers

Kevin Wadlow: 305-440-3206

This is one very important survey that cruisers definitely will want to take. We can only keep our fingers crossed that the right questions will be asked and that our answers, observations and suggestions will be heeded, unlike past conversations with the FWC.

FWC seeks public input on anchoring and mooring rules, pilot program
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is seeking feedback from cruising boaters, local boaters and other residents in evaluating the state’s Anchoring and Mooring Pilot Program and related ordinances.

The FWC has posted a brief online survey to accept this feedback. It should take approximately five to 10 minutes to complete and will be available to the public Oct. 1-9. Survey

Any input is greatly appreciated in evaluating and improving boating in Florida.

The Florida Legislature established the Anchoring and Mooring Pilot Program in 2009. The intent was to explore potential options for regulating the anchoring or mooring of non-live-aboard vessels outside the marked boundaries of public mooring fields throughout the state.

After public input, the FWC selected the cities of St. Augustine, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Stuart (in conjunction with Martin County) and the cities of Key West and Marathon (in conjunction with Monroe County) as five sites for the pilot program. They were granted temporary authority to regulate mooring in their jurisdictional waters through local ordinances.

All ordinances enacted under authority of the pilot program will expire on July 1, 2017, and will be inoperative and unenforceable thereafter, unless re-enacted by the Legislature.

Participation in the survey will help determine the effectiveness of the program, developed ordinances, and a variety of concepts related to specific restrictions on anchoring of vessels which may be considered in the future.

To access the survey and for more information, go to MyFWC.com/Boating.

And this from Glen Moore on the AGLCA Forum:

The Florida anchoring issue will be with us every year. This survey is part of the planning for next year’s legislative session and more legislation limiting anchoring. More communities will be vying to be included in the anchoring bans that were granted in two south Florida counties last year.

As a life-long resident of Florida, I have watched the law-making process over many decades. It is ironic that a state legislature with the majority of its members being elected on the platform of less government continue to issue laws regulating all forms of personal choice, including where one might anchor. Sorry if this sounds political, but this is a political issue and I have attempted to craft words in a benign manner.

If any of you are Floridians, and have decided to provide input through this survey, please take your time in studying each question (and there are many, particularly if you have anchored in a pilot project area since 2011) before answering. As an example, some of the questions refer to the appropriate distance to be anchored from residences or marine structures such as boat ramps. While you might have a great opinion of how far you believe is appropriate, any answer of a distance could result in laws regulating how far you must anchor. Any distance required could be difficult to follow given how large your swing circle could be. You could anchor at the appropriate distance, the wind direction change resulting in your boat swinging into an illegal spot. In many areas, laws regulating how far one can anchor from a residence will create overlapping illegal areas that essentially bans anchoring.

Last year, I wrote my State Senator questioning the proposed, and eventually passed law for south Florida. He responded that the anchoring law was needed for safety – that people water skied in the area and boats at anchor are a safety issue. I responded that they law did not prohibit anchoring in the day time, when there were people water skiing, only at night when people did not water ski – so the proposed law had no impact on the safety of skiers. He did not respond and voted for the anchoring prohibition.

We have some tough battles ahead. Our fight in Florida is not just for reasonable anchoring laws in Florida. Legislatures tend to copy laws from other states. As anchoring laws in Florida get legislated, other states will soon follow – Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina . . .

My recommendation on the survey is to use the comment box at the end of the survey to build your case that no additional anchoring laws/restrictions are needed in Florida.

Be aware that waterfront homeowners will also be responding to the survey.

Glen Moore
Last Dance, DeFever Passagemaker 40
Flagler Beach, FL

This report from Care2.com focuses on the large number of manatees killed in Florida by boats this year leading to what could be the worst year on record. Slow down in Manatee Zones and keep a sharp watch ahead.

Boats Are Killing Manatees in Record Numbers

Manatee advocates are raising concerns about the number of these gentle giants who have been killed in Florida this year. They hope that increased vigilance and other measures will help keep this from being the worst year on record.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has already counted 71 manatees killed by boats as of July 22. The numbers are already higher than they were for the same period in 2009, which was the deadliest year on record with a total of 97 deaths.

The growing death toll has caused manatee advocates to worry that the unfortunate record will be broken this year, but there are differing opinions as to why.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL REPORT

SSECN hopes this law will never apply to you, but if your boat is frequently left unattended for any length of time, you should be aware of the new authority granted to FWC law enforcement.

Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission sent this bulletin at 07/29/2016 11:00 AM EDT
For immediate release: July 29, 2016
Photos available on the FWC’s Flickr site: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjEz2hj2

New at-risk vessel law helps FWC officials manage Florida waterways

A new Florida law, approved by the Legislature and Governor during the 2016 Session, will enable county and local authorities along with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to more effectively manage the state’s waterways. The new law (F.S. 327.4107) allows law enforcement officers to issue non-criminal citations to owners who allow their boats to become “at risk” of becoming derelict.


“This law allows officers to take action before a vessel crosses that line between at-risk and derelict, and hopefully prompts the owner to rectify any issues with the vessel before it reaches a state of disrepair,” said Phil Horning, FWC’s derelict vessel program administrator. “Prior to this law being enacted, officers had to wait until a vessel met the legal criteria for a derelict vessel before beginning any sort of official interaction with the owner.”

Under the new law, a vessel is deemed to be “at-risk” if any of the following conditions is observed:
The vessel is taking on or has taken on water without an effective means to dewater.
Spaces on the vessel that are designed to be enclosed are incapable of being sealed off or remain open to the elements for extended periods of time.
The vessel has broken loose or is in danger of breaking loose from its anchor.
The vessel is left or stored aground unattended in such a state that would prevent the vessel from getting underway, is listing due to water intrusion, or is sunk or partially sunk.
If an officer observes a vessel with one or more of these criteria, a non-criminal citation may be issued that requires the owner to correct the problem or face stronger penalties after 30 days have passed. If problems are not fixed, non-compliant vessel owners can face additional fines issued every 30 days until they are.

Officials expect that this new law will decrease the number of vessels becoming derelict, a problem which continues to burden the state’s public waterways.

“Our goal is to keep Florida’s waterways safe and protect their environmental stability,” said Horning. “We are committed to protecting this valuable resource for the people of Florida and its visitors.”

Vessel owners are also reminded to sell their vessels properly.

“Many owners don’t realize that not only is the buyer required to get the vessel retitled in their name, but the seller is also required to notify the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles within 30 days that they have sold their vessel,” said Horning.

Failure to do so is a violation and may cause the prior owner of record legal troubles should the vessel become derelict at a later date. The FWC will be assisting state and local governments with derelict vessel removal grants that will be available soon. The grant funding was also approved by the Legislature and Governor during the 2016 Session. Interested applicants may contact the FWC Derelict Vessel Program office at 850-617-9540 or email DVGrant@MyFWC.com for more information.