February 26, 2016 — Commercial fishermen scrambling to buy life rafts for their boats this winter can rest a little easier. Congress has changed a new law that would have required life rafts for fishing boats traveling at least three miles off shore.
Less than two weeks ago, U.S. Coast Guard officials were in Petersburg explaining new safety requirements announced in January: that fishing boats under 36 feet would have to carry life rafts if traveling more than three miles off shore. The law was supposed to take effect Feb. 26. Also, larger boats over 36 feet needed to upgrade their life rings or floats to life rafts by Nov. 1. But all that’s changed.
“It’s all been put on hold,” said Steve Ramp, Commercial Fishing Vessel Examiner for the Coast Guard based in Sitka. He said Congress decided to repeal the change in safety requirements earlier this month.
“For some reason Congress, the Senate and the House, put some riders on a Coast Guard appropriation bill to change the implementation of these increased survival craft rules,” Ramp said.
The President signed the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015 on Feb. 8. It now calls for a formal rule making process before any new regulations can take effect. Ramp said the process is quite lengthy. It includes publishing in the federal register, a public comment period, a review period, and then formalizing the law into a regulation.
“That process we anticipate will take a year or more,” said Ramp.
That means it will be at least a year before survival craft requirements will change for commercial fishermen.