Great Lakes Boating & Marine Trades - Press Release
New York’s 2011 Clean & Safe Boating campaign will focus on slowing spread of aquatic invasive species
Contacts:
Discover Clean & Safe Boating Campaign:
Dave White, NY Sea Grant, dgw9@cornell.edu, 315-312-3042
Invasive Species:
Chuck O’Neill, NY Sea Grant, http://nyis.info
December 10, 2010, Cicero, NY – New York Sea Grant, the Boating
Industries Association of Upstate New York (BIA), and Marathon Boat
Group have announced that clean and safe boating and how boaters,
anglers and other water recreation users can prevent and slow the spread
of aquatic invasive species in New York waters will be the focus of the
2011 Discover Clean & Safe Boating campaign. The announcement was
made at the BIA’s December 9th meeting in Cicero, NY.
“We are excited to travel through the Great Lakes region to talk with
the diverse types of groups and individuals about clean and safe
boating and the opportunity they have to make a positive impact on the
spread of aquatic invasive species by following easy-to-implement
practices,” says campaign developer and New York Sea Grant Coastal
Recreation and Tourism Specialist Dave White.
Marathon Boat Group has donated the use of a 16-foot,
made-in-New-York Grumman Oneida fishing boat to be the 2011 Discover
Clean & Safe Boating vessel. The boat will be equipped with the gear
required and recommended for boating on New York waters and will
provide boaters and anglers with information on how they can cope with
and control the spread of invasive species.
“The 2010 Discover Clean and Safe Boating Campaign was a new program
for Marathon Boat Group. We are pleased to return in 2011 to help New
Yorkers learn how to enjoy our fabulous boating waters by following good
practices to protect themselves and the marine environment,” says
Marathon Boat Group CEO John Jackson.
The first event for the 2011 Discover Clean and Safe Boating vessel will be the February 16-20, 2011 Central New York Boat Show at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse.
Marina, marine manufacturer and marine services providers attended
the BIA December meeting. BIA President John Jablonski, owner of The
Sailboat Shop in Skaneateles, NY, said, “The Boating Industries
Association of Upstate New York is pleased to partner with the Discover
Clean and Safe Boating program because our member businesses are all
about making boating safer and more enjoyable in ways that also protect
the quality of our boating waters.”
New York Sea Grant’s Invasive Species Team Leader Charles “Chuck”
O’Neill chairs the New York State Invasive Species Advisory Committee.
O’Neill says, “The 2011 Discover Clean and Safe Boating campaign is the
type of collaborative public outreach that puts a spotlight on vectors
of aquatic invasive species introduction, prevention, early detection,
rapid response measures, and long-term management and control – all of
which can help reduce the cost of coping with invasive species in New
York State.”
O’Neill, who manages the New York Invasive Species Clearinghouse,
defines an invasive species as a species that is not native to the
ecosystem of interest and is likely to cause harm to the economy,
environment or human health in that area.
He says Cornell University
estimates that $120 billion is spent annually nationwide on aquatic and
land invasive species programs.
In 2005, the New York State Invasive Species Task Force reported an
annual expenditure of approximately one-half million dollars to control
Sea Lampreys in the Great Lakes.
For more info on the 2011 Discover Clean & Safe Boating campaign,
contact White at New York Sea Grant, SUNY Oswego, Oswego, NY 13126,
315-312-3042.
Additional Notes:
The New York Invasive Species Clearinghouse
is a collaborative effort by New York Sea Grant, the New York Invasive
Species Research Institute, and the Cornell Cooperative Extension
Invasive Species Program.
Information on more than two dozen aquatic invasive species is posted online.
Look there for details on “Killer” and bloody red (hemimysis) shrimp,
gribbles, Chinese mitten crab, round and monkey goby, rudd, spiny water
flea, Asian and green clams, invasive mussels and more.
The 2011 Discover Clean & Safe Boating campaign’s major sponsors
are New York Sea Grant, the Boating Industries Association of Upstate
NY, and Marathon Boat Group. Additional sponsors are providing space at
boat shows and other events statewide and items for the exhibit’s
boating & boat education prize wheel.
An invasive species is defined as a species that is not native to the
ecosystem of interest and is likely to cause harm to the economy,
environment or human health in that area.
Aquatic invasive species can:
- Reduce native species and game fish populations
- Damage boat engines and steering equipment
- Make lakes and rivers unusable by boaters and swimmers
- Increase operating costs of drinking water and power plants, dams, & industrial processes
- Degrade ecosystems and reduce property values
- Impact the local economies of waterfront communities.
Boaters and anglers can take easily-implemented steps to slow the
spread of aquatic invasive species in New York waters. The 2011 Discover
Clean and Safe Boating campaign will help educate them on the “how-to.”