Boating & the Environment
The recreational boating experience is made richer when operating in clean water, bordered by pristine shoreline. How we operate and maintain our boats and deal with debris can significantly affect the marine environment. Careless actions can be harmful to boats, boaters, wildlife and the environment. Potentially damaging debris includes fishing line, plastic nets, plastic wrap and utensils, Styrofoam, gas, oil and bottom paint. Toxic chemicals from cleaning agents and equipment produced using chlorofluorocarbons also pose threats to the environment.
Here are some tips boaters should consider:
Responsible Operation
- Educate yourself about products and practices that are safe for the environment. Share the information with your boating friends.
- Laws prohibiting speeding, littering, and discharging sink, waste into the water are designed to protect the environment. Obey these laws.
- Proceed slowly in shallow areas to avoid interrupting the environment. Stirring up sediment affects the natural life cycle.
- Watch your wake. Boat wake erodes shoreline and encourages silt build up.
Fuel and Engine Maintenance
- Keep your boat’s engine well tuned for fuel efficiency. Use engine cleaners minimally. Make sure your motor doesn’t leak gas or oil into the water.
- Remove all oil from the bilge. An oil absorbent bilge cushion can help. New products are being created that can remove petroleum hydrocarbons from bilge water.
- Do not drain engine fluids into the water.
- Flush winterizing agents and antifreeze from the engine prior to launching each season. Do not use ethylene glycol antifreeze in your boat; use only propylene glycol winterizing agents.
- Don’t top off your tank when fueling. This reduces the risk of fuel overflow and allows for expansion in the tank. Make sure you wipe up all gasoline and oil spills.
Boat Painting and Cleaning
- Use environmentally friendly products on your boat – non-phosphate liquid detergents, biodegradable soaps, and non-acidic teak cleaner to name a few.
- Properly dispose of hazardous products with high concentrations of toxins. Avoid using wood preserver, turpentine, paint thinners, and dangerous cleansers on or near the water.
- Know and use legal bottom paints. Treat paint chips as hazardous waste when scraping bottom paint and dispose of them properly. Avoid using toxic tributyltin (TBT) paints.
Waste Disposal
- Use onshore restroom facilities or carry a portable toilet or marine head with a holding tank. Use the nearest pumpout or dump station for waste disposal.
- Secure trash and dispose of it properly on shore. Recycle when possible.
- Minimize disposable plastic products brought on board. Do not dispose of them in the water or let them get blown overboard. Fishing line, six-pack rings, and plastic bags are harmful to fish, birds, vegetation, and wildlife. They also tangle boat props, clog intakes and litter shorelines.
- Support marinas that are environmentally conscious. They will assist you in recycling oil, antifreeze, aluminum, and plastic bottles and provide a pump-out facility for your sanitary system.
- Recycle old fire extinguishers and marine batteries.
Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS)
- Educate yourself on the increasing threat of these uninvited guests. Milfoil, zebra mussels, and other ANS are being increasingly regulated to prevent their spread.
- Remove all visible aquatic plants and animals from your boat, motor, trailer and other equipment before leaving the access area.
- Always drain live wells and transom wells before leaving the water.
- Never dump live bait into any lake, river or stream.
 
Ohio Clean Boater/Clean Marina Program
The basic goal of these programs is to increase environmental stewardship by making boaters and marinas more aware of environmental laws, rules and regulations and pumpout facilities. A priority is to get as many marinas as possible to “take the pledge” and follow the Clean Marinas Guidebook for best management practices, thus earning the “Ohio Clean Marina” status.
Ohio’s recreational boaters play a critical role by adopting the environmental boating practices listed above. Doing so will help preserve and protect the natural resources that we depend on – clean water and fresh air.
Information regarding aquatic nuisance species and the Ohio Clean Boater/Clean Marina Program is readily available from a variety of sources including the World Wide Web. Take the “pledge” by contacting the Ohio Sea Grant College Program at 614-292-8949 or www.sg.ohio-state.edu/.
SPLASH FACT
Collectively, we are all responsible for protecting the environment. Ultimately each of us is responsible for doing our part. By doing your part you can ensure pleasurable boating experiences for the future. |