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Boat Owners Association of The United States, or BoatUS, the nation’s largest advocacy, services and safety group for recreational boaters, estimates that more than 63,000 recreational boats were damaged or destroyed as a result of both Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, with a combined dollar damage estimate of $655 million (boats only).
These numbers are strikingly close to 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, which remains the single-largest industry loss with more than 65,000 boats damaged and more than $650 million in estimated losses.
Breaking down the 2017 season storms, Hurricane Irma damaged or destroyed 50,000 vessels with approximately $500 million in recreational boat damage.
About 13,500 boats were damaged or lost costing $155 million in boat damage as the result of Hurricane Harvey.
“These two storms were as different as night and day,” said BoatUS Marine Insurance Program Vice President of Claims Rick Wilson. “The boats that were hit the hardest by Harvey were located on a relatively small slice of Texas coast, while we saw damage to recreational vessels from Irma in every corner of Florida.” The BoatUS Catastrophe Team recently completed two months of field operations arranging for repairs, salvage or wreck removals for BoatUS Marine Insurance program members and GEICO Marine Insurance customers.
“While Hurricane Irma’s losses are significant, it could have been much worse,” added Wilson. “Irma ultimately traveled up Florida’s West Coast and not the East, which was initially forecast. And while locations in the right front quadrant of the storm such as Big Pine Key and Marathon were hit hard with a Category 4 storm, Irma lost strength as it approached the mainland and swept up Florida. As the storm passed east of Tampa Bay, waters receded and came back gradually, also lessening surge damage.”
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According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, “The fire extinguishers can become clogged or require excessive force to discharge and can fail to activate during a fire emergency. In addition, the nozzle can detach with enough force to pose an impact hazard.”
The BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean water is urging recreational boat owners to check their boats for the recalled extinguishers and get a free metal-handled replacement by going to the CPSC recall website.
The recall affects both plastic-handle and push-button Pindicator Kidde fire extinguishers, including 134, ABC- or BC-rated models manufactured between January 1, 1973, and August 15, 2017.
The extinguishers are red, white or silver and were sold in the US and Canada through a wide range of retailers from Montgomery Ward to Amazon. The CPSC recall website shows how to easily identify the affected extinguishers.
In the recall, Kidde also acknowledged the free replacement push-button extinguisher being sent to personal watercraft owners is similar in size to the recalled model but may not fit in the same location as the old fire extinguisher.
“This may require a slightly different mounting orientation or location,” said BoatUS Foundation Assistant Director of Boating Safety Ted Sensenbrenner.”
CPSC says there have been approximately 391 reports of failed or limited activation or nozzle detachment, including one fatality; approximately 16 injuries, including smoke inhalation and minor burns; and approximately 91 reports of property damage.
Kidde may also be contacted toll-free at 855-271-0773 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET Saturday and Sunday.
The company offers additional recall information online at www.kidde.com by selecting “Product Safety Recall.”
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- Written by: Carrie Wilson
Question: Are there new regulations for Dungeness crab traps? I heard traps must be marked with the “GO ID” number.
Is this something I need to get to put on my traps? When does the season open and are there any other new regulations? (Peter G., Bodega Bay)
Answer: The recreational Dungeness crab season will open statewide on Sat., Nov. 5. However, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has issued a warning to recreational anglers not to consume the viscera (internal organs) of Dungeness crab caught in coastal waters north of Point Reyes due to the sporadic detection of elevated levels of domoic acid in the viscera of Dungeness crabs caught off the northern California coast.
Recreational crabbers should consult the CDPH biotoxin information line at (800) 553-4133 or CDPH’s Domoic Acid health information webpage for more information.
Several new regulations became effective on Aug. 1, 2016 and are available beginning on page 50 in the Ocean Sport Fishing Regulations book.
Some of these include:
• Crab trap buoys must display the “GO ID” number of the operator of the trap.
This is the unique 10-digit identifier assigned by the Automated License Data System to your profile. It will appear on your fishing license and all documents purchased through the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Crab traps must possess a buoy and each buoy must be legibly marked with the trap operator’s GO ID number as stated on his or her sport fishing license.
This regulation will help to ensure that crab traps are being used by the designated operator of the trap in order to prevent others from unlawfully disturbing or removing crab from crab traps.
This regulation does not apply to traps deployed from commercial passenger fishing vessels (i.e. charter and party boats) or hoop nets.
• Crab traps must contain at least one destruct device made from a single strand of untreated cotton twine size No. 120 or less that creates an unobstructed opening anywhere in the top or upper half of the trap that is at least five inches in diameter when this material corrodes or fails.
Destruct devices prevent “ghost fishing” (the continuous trapping of organisms in lost or abandoned trap gear).
The cotton twine must be a single strand and untreated in order for the material to corrode relatively quickly on lost or abandoned gear, and to keep the twine from snagging on itself once it comes apart.
The smaller the size of cotton twine used, the faster the material will corrode in lost or abandoned trap gear.
The opening must be located in the top or upper half of the trap in case the trap becomes silted in over time. Try using untreated cotton twine attached between the metal or plastic hook and the rubber strap that keeps the top of the trap lid (or trap side) closed. The cotton twine should be attached with a single loop to aid the destruct process (see illustrations).
• Crab traps must not be deployed or fished less than seven days prior to the opening of the Dungeness crab season.
New this season, crab traps used to take either Dungeness crab or rock crab can’t be used or deployed in state waters from Oct. 29 until the Dungeness crab fishery opens at 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 5.
Any crab traps found in ocean waters prior to this seven-day period should be removed from the water by Oct. 28.
This is to prevent the unlawful take of Dungeness crab before the season starts. “Take” is defined as hunting, catching, capturing or killing of fish, amphibians, reptiles, mollusks, crustaceans or invertebrates, or attempting to do so.
New this year: In an effort to help recreational crabbers when deploying crab trap gear to reduce surface lines and entanglements with animals (especially marine mammals and sea turtles) and other vessels, CDFW created the Best Practices Guide available online. Please check it out.
And although there is no time limit for the checking of crab trap gear (as there is for hoop nets), frequent visits will ensure that traps are in good working condition and that crab captured in the trap are not held for too long.
Regulations remaining in place include: Every crab trap must be outfitted with two rigid circular escape openings that are a minimum of 4¼ inches in diameter and located so that the lowest portion is, at the most, five inches from the top of the trap. This is to allow small crabs to easily escape from the trap. Crab traps can only be used in state waters north of Point Arguello, Santa Barbara County.
There is no limit to the number of crab traps that can be used by recreational crabbers, except the limit is 60 when operating under authority of a commercial passenger fishing vessel license.
The daily bag and possession limit for Dungeness crab remains the same at 10 crabs per day with the minimum size limit 5¾ inches (measured by the shortest distance through the body from the edges of the shell directly in front of and excluding the points/lateral spines).
Dungeness crab can be taken in all ocean waters of the state where they occur, excluding San Francisco and San Pablo bays.
They can be taken using hoop nets, crab traps and/or crab loop traps, also known as crab snares, or skin and scuba divers may take them by hand.
Dungeness crab can be taken in freshwater areas of the state between Del Norte and Sonoma counties only by hand or hoop net during the open season, and the same daily bag and size limits apply.
For the latest crab fishing information, please visit the CDFW Web site, https://wildlife.ca.gov/.
Carrie Wilson is a marine environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. While she cannot personally answer everyone’s questions, she will select a few to answer each week in this column. Please contact her at
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Those carrying a current hunting or fishing license are exempt from this new requirement.
CDFW's Lands Pass Program began in 1988 as a way to broaden the funding base beyond hunters and anglers to pay for conservation and habitat improvement on some of the state's most popular and frequently visited wildlife areas and ecological reserves.
In 2013, the California Legislature directed CDFW to expand the program to more properties as a way for all visitors to contribute to the management of the places they enjoy and appreciate.
A daily lands pass costs $4.32 and an annual lands pass costs $24.33. Lands passes can be purchased online at www.ca.wildlifelicense.com/internetsales, by phone at 800-565-1458 or in-person wherever hunting and fishing license are sold (please see www.wildlife.ca.gov/licensing for a list of locations).
The passes are good at any CDFW-managed wildlife area or ecological reserve designated as a lands pass area.
With the exception of the Elkhorn Slough Ecological Reserve, lands passes are not sold on site and should be purchased in advance.
Though lands passes can be purchased from a smartphone and used immediately, many of CDFW's wildlife areas and ecological reserves are in remote locations with limited or no cell service or Wi-Fi availability.
Signs will be posted notifying visitors of the need for a lands pass.
A lands pass already is required to visit six CDFW properties:
– Elkhorn Slough Ecological Reserve in Monterey County;
– Gray Lodge Wildlife Area in Butte County;
– Grizzly Island Wildlife Area in Solano County;
– Imperial Wildlife Area in Imperial County;
– Los Banos Wildlife Area in Merced County;
– San Jacinto Wildlife Area in Riverside County.
Beginning in November, a lands pass will be required to visit the following 11 properties:
– Ash Creek, Bass Hill, Honey Lake and Willow Creek wildlife areas in Lassen County
Battle Creek Wildlife Area in Tehama County;
– Butte Valley, Horseshoe Ranch and Shasta Valley wildlife areas in Siskiyou County
Mouth of Cottonwood Creek Wildlife Area in Shasta County;
– Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area (Green Island Unit only) in Napa County
Woodbridge Ecological Reserve in San Joaquin County (beginning Nov. 15).
Starting January 2018, a lands pass will be required at the following 23 properties:
– Batiquitos Lagoon, Boden Canyon, Buena Vista Lagoon and San Elijo Lagoon ecological reserves and Hollenbeck Canyon and San Felipe Valley wildlife areas in San Diego County;
– Upper Newport Bay (Big Canyon Unit only) Ecological Reserve in Orange County;
– Canebrake Ecological Reserve in Kern County;
– Crescent City Marsh, Elk Creek Wetlands and Lake Earl wildlife areas in Del Norte County;
– Eel River, Elk River Wetlands, Fay Slough and Mad River Slough wildlife areas in Humboldt County;
– Hope Valley Wildlife Area in Alpine County;
– Mendota Wildlife Area in Fresno County;
– North Grasslands and Volta wildlife areas in Merced County;
– North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve in Butte County and the Upper Butte Basin Wildlife Area in Butte and Glenn counties;
– Tehama Wildlife Area in Tehama County;
– Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area in Yolo County.
Starting February 2018, a lands pass will be required at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Orange County.
For more information on CDFW's Lands Pass program, please visit www.wildlife.ca.gov/licensing/lands-pass .
- Sport-harvested mussel quarantine lifted along most of California coast; health advisory continues for Sonoma County
- Final guided nature walk of the year to be held Nov. 11 at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park
- California Outdoors: Incidental take while spearfishing, hunting with an airbow, fine for no fishing license