BoatUS Foundation Awarded $150k to Remove Aquatic Debris

Projects coordinated by BoatUS this year aim to clean up abandoned fishing nets that could represent a hazard to boaters.

The Annapolis, Maryland-based BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water has received more than $150,000 in grants to help fund projects aimed at cleaning up aquatic debris that could represent potential hazards to boaters.

The group received a $51,000 grant under the NOAA Marine Debris Program to remove a sunken 35-foot steel commercial fishing boat with a net attached, located off the shore of Reno Beach, Ohio, in western Lake Erie. The wreck is located near sensitive habitat, a state park, and two National Wildlife Refuges. Local agencies are supporting the project with additional donations of in-kind services that exceed $52,000 in value.

In the Atlantic, three to seven miles offshore of Ocean City, Maryland, TowBoatUS Ocean City will remove two commercial fishing nets that are entangled on an artificial reef.

In both locations the nets are still actively fishing and trapping aquatic life.

BoatUS received a further $103,000 grant from the Fishing for Energy program to study and develop educational tools, aimed at reducing interactions between recreational boats and fixed commercial fishing gear. Administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and funded by the NOAA Marine Debris Program, the Fishing for Energy grant aims to prevent and reduce the impacts of derelict fishing gear in the marine environment. This grant is being matched by a $140,000 donation of services by the BoatUS Foundation.

Since 2008, Fishing for Energy has been a public-private partnership between NOAA Marine Debris Program, energy-from-waste facility operator Covanta, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), and metals recycler Schnitzer Steel Industries.