KODIAK — New safety regulations for fishing vessels are on the horizon, and fishermen need to 1) pay attention, and 2) participate in developing the rules.
Congress decreed the new measures as part of the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act of 2010, which was signed into law in October. Most of the regulations are still being drafted, and it could be several years before they are final. However, one already caught Alaska cod fishermen and the state by surprise this month: a shift in some areas of the traditional three-mile boundary that separates state and federal waters.
"It changed the standard from the present boundary line to three nautical miles of the baseline from where the territorial sea is measured, which is that new gray line on the charts. That is spelled out very specifically in the act," said Ken Lawrenson, Fishing Vessel Safety Coordinator with the Coast Guard in Juneau.
Within the sections that relate to fishing-vessel safety, Lawrenson said, some items are more discretionary, where wording and intent is general and nonspecific to let the industry and Coast Guard develop the regulations. But some regulations are very "black and white" and happening fast.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Anchorage Daily News (Anchorage, AK).