Releases – July 7, 2011
If you’ve always wanted to build your own boat, now’s your chance! Sign up for the “Build-A-Boat” event at Cape Fear Community College on July 23 in downtown Wilmington. As part of the 2011 CFCC Boat Show, teams of amateur boat builders spend a day with an experienced boat builder to build a full size row boat in just one day. No previous experience is necessary, and participants get to keep the boat when they are finished.
Registration costs $450 per team, and pre-registration is required. Each team must have a minimum of two people, but four people are recommended. All proceeds benefit student scholarships.
For more information, call (910) 362-7403 or visit www.cfcc.edu/martech/boatshow.
The CFCC Boat Show is an annual celebration of the craft of boat building and features boats of all shapes and styles from amateur, student, and professional boat builders. The show is sponsored by the CFCC boat building programs and is located in downtown Wilmington along the Cape Fear River.
Check out the video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW0SclRCCXI.
North Carolina Sea Grant stresses this safety message: Boaters should know the area they are navigating and keep abreast of changing water conditions, particularly in coastal inlets.
For the busy summer season, the U.S. Coast Guard has released a public safety brochure, Hazards of North Carolina Coastal Inlets. It reminds boaters to be cautious when accessing inlets.
“The brochure comes at a time when public resources available for inlet maintenance and dredging in North Carolina are very difficult to secure or are being cut,” says Spencer Rogers, North Carolina Sea Grant coastal construction and erosion specialist. “It is of utmost importance that small craft-owners recognize that the shallow-draft, ‘navigable’ inlets are the most treacherous and rapidly changing waterways in the state, often more dangerous than even the open ocean.”
Inlets are “subject to continual change and should be used only with local knowledge,” says Chris Groom of the Coast Guard. He warns that boaters who are unfamiliar with a particular inlet should wait for a rising tide and never attempt to enter when the bar is breaking.
Groom also cautions boaters that the buoys marking the bar channel are frequently shifted to mark the best water, and therefore are not charted.
Boaters can keep updated on the status of inlet waters at www.navcen.uscg.gov or on VHF channel 16.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains the inlets, while the Coast Guard patrols those waters.
The Coast Guard brochure is available at www.uscg.mil/d5/sectnorthcarolina.
In the rush to get on the water, don’t get in the way, don’t get upset, and don’t get in trouble. Wildlife Officers with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission are reminding everyone to practice proper boat ramp etiquette this summer, be patient with others, and obey regulations set for public boating access areas. Their recommendations are as follows.
Pre-Launch at Home: File a float plan with a responsible person. Make sure you have all required safety equipment onboard. Check the charge on fire extinguisher(s). Check that your registration and decal is up-to-date and your registration card is onboard. Make sure all running gear, lights, etc., are working and the drain plug is in.
Pre-Launch at Staging Area: Remove covers and straps before you get in line. Have gear and equipment already stowed onboard. Disconnect any wiring between your trailer and boat. Remove the tarp and straps that secure your boat to the trailer. Put your keys in the boat console.
Launching: Wait your turn. Get in line without blocking or cutting off others. Connect your bow line. Ease your boat into the water and be watchful of the dock or pier and other boats. If possible, park your vehicle and trailer while someone moves the boat away from the ramp. Observe no-wake zones and be cautious.
Recovery: Loading onto trailers is in order of tow vehicles in line, not waiting boats. Carefully back trailer into the water. Move the boat onto the trailer, hook the winch line and securely position. Steadily accelerate and slowly pull the trailer forward; be watchful of vehicles and people. Return to the staging area to transfer gear, secure straps and tarps.
Wildlife Officers are charged with enforcing the boating laws and regulations on the waters of North Carolina and may stop any vessel for safety checks or violations. In the course of their duties, these law enforcement officers will patrol over 5,000 square miles of inland streams, rivers, lakes and coastal waterways and 220 public boating access areas.
“The other advice I would add is to respect others and please don’t litter,” said Erik Christofferson, chief of the Division of Engineering Services of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. “Our division maintains free public boating access across the state, opening new ones and improving existing ones all the time. Cooperation from the boating community is essential to the upkeep and cleanliness of boat ramps, and ultimately everyone’s safety.”
For more information on boating safety, regulations and title and registration, go to www.ncwildlife.org/Boating_Waterways/index.htm.
When anglers were asked in a recent survey if they participated in fishing tournaments, it was discovered that for every one competing professional angler there are roughly nine fishermen who compete at least occasionally in amateur tournaments. The Angler Survey results indicate tournament fishing is a popular activity among some sportsmen.
Among those anglers who reported competing in tournaments in the past year, for every full-time or part-time angler that competes at the professional level, there are approximately three anglers who compete regularly in amateur tournaments and just over six who do it at least occasionally. Local contests have the most participants are the most participated in, probably because they are easier for more anglers to access, with 72.7 percent of tournament anglers citing their involvement in them. Thirty-five percent of all pro and amateur tournament competitors participated in regional (within state) events, 17.5 percent in state events, 14.5 percent at regional (multi-state) tournaments, and only 10.1 percent in national events.
“Fishing tournaments are a great way for anglers at every skill level to compete and have a lot of fun. Looking at some of the more storied tournaments held around the country, purse winnings can be quite large for some of these events, which I am sure is a big draw for many anglers,” said Rob Southwick, president of Southwick Associates, which designs and conducts the surveys at AnglerSurvey.com.
Over the past two years, NOAA Fisheries Service has documented elevated sea turtle strandings in the northern Gulf of Mexico, particularly throughout the Mississippi Sound area. A significant number of those turtles necropsied, indicating they likely perished due to forced submergence, which is commonly associated with fishery interactions. Additionally, recent information on the size and scope of the skimmer trawl fleet indicates the fishery may be affecting sea turtles in a manner not previously considered, which warrants a new evaluation.
As a result, NOAA is considering new regulations to reduce the incidental bycatch and mortality of sea turtles in the shrimp fishery of the southeastern United States. The scoping process will be the first stage in a multi-step process required by the National Environmental Policy Act to ensure that Federal agencies evaluate the environmental impacts of major Federal actions. During the scoping process, the public is provided with an opportunity to assist NOAA in determining the scope of issues that require analysis.
The analysis of issues and the environmental impacts of the proposed actions will be presented in a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which will be made available for public comment. The notice of intent to prepare the draft EIS will be published in the Federal Register on June 24, 2011.
NOAA prepared a scoping document and a list of frequently asked questions as aids to the public on the scoping process that is about to be undertook, which are available online at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pr.htm. The scoping document describes the major issues, current management and legal requirements, and identifies potential management measures to reduce interactions, and in particular, lethal interactions, between sea turtles and trawl fisheries.
Five scoping meetings have been scheduled in July 2011 to solicit public input on alternatives to reduce sea turtle bycatch. The date, time, and location of the North Carolina meeting is as follows:
July 18, 2011, from 2:00 pm-4:00 pm, Crystal Coast Civic Center, 3505 Arendell Street, Morehead City, NC 28557.
Scoping comments may also be submitted during a concurrent 45-day comment period. When the draft EIS is published, it will also have a 45-day public comment period.
