In response to the cries about the Asian carp threatening to invade the Great Lakes, Congress has asked the Chicago District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to prepare a feasibility study to investigate the potential environmental, economic and social effects of the measures being considered that would implement a range of possible modifications to the electric barriers, the only present-day battlefields against the carp. These adjustments would improve the efficacy and the evaluation of other fish deterrents and additional barriers in the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS). (Read More…)

Last month Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts was derided nationwide for registering his new boat in the tiny-and-thriving boat tax haven of Rhode Island. Many presume that the Senator’s intent was to avoid the significant sales and boat excise taxes that Massachusetts imposes on its registered boaters. (Read More…)

I recently wrote a marketing column in Trade Only about the need for marine businesses to have crisis communications strategies. I referenced the Tiger Woods debacle and compared it to David Letterman and discussed how a well-orchestrated, pre-emptive strike paid off for the king of late night, while Wood’s lingering failure to address his public and control the message at the outset quickly exacerbated his nightmare to epic crisis proportions. (Read More…)

When my editor offered me a chance to cover the Korea International Boat Show I jumped at the opportunity. It was a chance to experience a different culture, see first-hand how a country with a recreational marine industry in its infancy is growing its boating culture, and learn about a different part of the world. (Read More…)

I am a real estate appraiser who specializes in marinas, and I have some basic advice for marina owners, fishermen, hotel owners and others damaged by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. (Read More…)

My beliefs about the economy are complicated. We just came out of the Strictly Sail Pacific sailboat show — the largest all-sail show on the West Coast — and the feedback from exhibitors across the board was refreshingly positive! (Read More…)

Dale Jones recently lost his job. The chief of NOAA’s Office for Law Enforcement was removed from his position and publicly berated in news articles, op-eds and blogs across the country. While it’s easy to declare his departure a victory for reform, I think we need to look harder at the real issue. Chief Jones was never the problem. It’s the regulations — complicated, inefficient, almost impossible to understand — that are at fault here. (Read More…)

According to market research, the current economy has taken its toll on marinas. Now, in addition to the traditional risks they face, marinas must contend with crimes stemming from economic hardship. (Read More…)