ACTIONS
1. Do not throw any litter overboard. Bring everything ashore, including your soda cans and "biodegradable" food waste.
2. Install a garbage can on your boat, and use it.
3. Pick up someone else's litter and bring it back to shore to dispose of properly.
4. When guests come aboard your boat, let them know about your commitment to clean water and that you have a boat policy not to throw trash overboard.
5. Switch to reusable cups and plates on your boat.
6. If something accidentally blows overboard, go back and pick it up. Use it as man overboard practice!
7. Under the Marpol Treaty, as of July 31, 1900, boats more than 26 feet in length must display a placard that informs crew members and passengers of the rules and penalities goveming disposal of trash and garbage from vessels.
In additon to the placard requirement, the regulations require a written waste management plan for U.S. vessels 40 feet or longer that operate in coastal waterways beyond three nautical miles of shore, engage in commerce, or have a galley and berthing quarters. The plan must describe the procedures for collecting, processing, storing, and discharging garbage as well as designating the person responsible for carrying out the plan.
8. For more information on the Marpol Treaty, contact:
Center for Marine Conservation
1725 DeSales Street, NW
Suite 500
Washington. DC 20036
(202) 429-5600
WAKES AND WAVES
Boat wakes contribute to shoreline erosion, especially in smaller creeks and coves. They can also stir up bottom sediments and reduce light essential to submerged aquatic vegetation, such as sea grasses.
ACTIONS
1. Reduce your speed before reaching speed buoys in small rivers and creeks.
2. Occasionally look back at your wake. What does it took like when it reaches the shoreline? Is it breaking, and creating a big impact? Or is it gently easing up the shoreline? Adjust your boat speed to minimize your wake.
