REEL TIME: Florida Sea Grant needs boaters’ help

From Page 22

As part of a comprehensive needs assessment, Florida Sea Grant is also looking at boating infrastructure in the state. More specifically, they are looking to determine how many recreational boats have direct access to the water in each county. They are then comparing that to how many sewage disposal resources (pump outs and port-a-potty dump stations) are available.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Clean Vessel Act Technical Guidelines recommend “As a general guide, at least one pump out station and dump station should be provided for every 300 to 600 boats over 16 feet length overall.” Florida Sea Grant will be using this study to determine if this general guideline is still appropriate, and, if not, to develop a new guideline to target counties in Florida that do and do not meet the guideline.

Based on the results of the needs assessment, they will focus efforts to promote the installation of sewage disposal resources where they are most needed.

Data collection for the study will be completed by June 2024 or earlier, depending on participation rates. Once all the data is collected, it will be reviewed for quality control and analysis. When that is completed, the results will be written up in a report. It is expected that the report will be available by September 2024. The report will be published on Florida Sea Grant’s Clean Boating webpage. If you’d like to be notified when the report is available or would like more information, please email Gambale at v.gambale@ufl.edu or call 352-562-1134. Boater survey promotional materials include a poster, postcard and social media graphics and text if you would like to spread the word about the survey.

To keep our waters healthy, we need the help of everyone who enjoys these natural wonders and whose livelihoods depend on them. Most importantly we owe it to future generations so that they too can enjoy their bounty, both spiritually and economically.