I’m designating May as the Take Notice of Pending Regulations Month. I’m thinking of four regulations coming due in the next 10 months. Failure to meet any of their deadlines may result in missing a fishing trip or two, and having to come up with some cash you hadn’t budgeted for.
Another day on the docks for a Coast Guard inspector. Michael Rudolph photoThe deadline for the first of the four regulations is Oct. 15, 2015. That’s when you must have completed a mandatory dockside safety examination. That includes both state and federally documented boats operating beyond three miles, a boat that carries 16 or more people and operates inside of or outside of three miles, and fish tenders working in the Aleutians.
If you don’t have a safety decal by that date, your ability to fish could be curtailed. The Coast Guard will tell you, “don’t wait,” because they expect a lot of business as Oct. 15 approaches.
The regulation on the up-and-coming list that won’t affect many boat owners states that fishing vessels “must be equipped with a VHF radiotelephone installation, which must have DSC capability.” It only applies to boats of 300 gross tons or more.
The upgrade has to be done by Jan. 20, 2016. The regulation applies to boats operating within 20 miles of the East, West and Gulf coasts, as well as Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands. However, Alaska isn’t included, as it does not yet have the infrastructure to support digital selective calling.
The benefit of having a radio with DSC capability is that as soon as you hit that red button on the VHF radio, a distress signal goes out. If the radio is connected to a GPS — and it definitely should be — you are also sending your boat’s position.
The third regulation falls due on Feb. 16, 2016. By then your boat must be carrying a survival craft “that ensures that no part of an individual is immersed in water.” It’s for boats operating outside of three miles. No more of those World War II–type rafts with a buoyant ring around the outside and webbing inside that you sit on and watch the water slosh around you.
The last ruling requires boats 65 feet or longer to have an automatic identification system installed by March 2, 2016. The benefit of AIS is that it enhances your awareness of boats operating nearby — as long as they also have an AIS — and those same boats know where you are. The Coast Guard estimates that this ruling affects 2,906 fishing boats.
Only class-B AIS is required though you can opt for the more effective class A.
So there you have it, four regulations, and four deadlines that you have to meet. The first one is five months away, but after that they will be coming pretty fast.
