NMMA - National Marine Manufacturers Association Inc.
09/19/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/18/2024 23:04
Recreational Boating Industry Supports Bill to Invest in Marine Technologies to Protect Boaters and Lessen Whale Vessel Strikes
As the House Committee on Natural Resourcest today marks up H.R. 8704, bipartisan legislation sponsored by U.S. Reps. Earl. L "Buddy" Carter (R-GA) and Mary Peltola (D-AK), NMMA released the following statement of support:
"We strongly support Representatives Carter and Peltola in their leadership to advance bipartisan legislation centered around technological solutions to protect marine life, while prioritizing boater safety and supporting coastal economies," said Frank Hugelmeyer, President and CEO of the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA)."This legislation represents a critical step forward in preventing NOAA's flawed vessel speed rule from going into effect, and identifies bipartisan, viable alternatives to solve a complex conservation issue. We urge Congress to move this bill through the legislative process to protect U.S. boaters, American jobs and marine life."
The bipartisan legislation would establish a grant program that prioritizes advanced and effective marine technology to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale (NARW). In June, NMMA released a statement in support of the introduction of the legislation, in which Hugelmeyer said, "Advanced marine technologies can better protect the North Atlantic right whale than NOAA's archaic and economically damaging vessel speed rule, and this bipartisan legislation is the perfect example of members of Congress coming together to solve a conservation challenge in a thoughtful and effective way."
Since the rule was proposed more than two years ago, the recreational boating and fishing industry has worked tirelessly to alert NOAA to the flaws in the rule. The industry strongly encourages a technology-based approach to protecting marine mammals without putting boater safety at risk and devastating coastal economies.
In a recent op-ed in The Washington Post, Hugelmeyer shared the recreational boating industry's perspective about how the ill-conceived NOAA rule puts boater safety at risk and hurts coastal economies while failing to protect the endangered NARW population.
As NMMA and its industry partners have demonstrated multiple times to NOAA and decisionmakers in Congress, advanced marine technology exists today that can better protect the NARW population than an archaic vessel speed restriction.