A new op-ed in The Post and Courier by Tommy Hancock, the owner and founder of Sportsman Boats, highlights how the proposed vessel speed rule could significantly impact boaters and businesses in South Carolina.

Hancock writes in his June 6 op-ed:

Not only does the rule impose significant safety concerns, but it also reeks of enforcement issues and blatant government overreach. Just last year, a Charleston-based boat over 65 feet was hit with a $15,000 fine from NOAA based on Automatic Identification System data from two years prior. The penalty for speeding in a whale zone surpasses that for speeding in a school zone and can be issued through the mail nearly two years later. To put this in perspective, this would be as if you were driving your vehicle down Interstate 26 and the government sent you a ticket for speeding based on your GPS data two years later.

The facts simply do not support NOAA’s heavy-handed approach. In more than 50 years, there has been just one serious whale strike off South Carolina’s coast, and never by a vessel between 35 and 65 feet. This rule is not only baseless but also misguided in its failure to distinguish between small boats and enormous oceangoing vessels. Most fatal whale strikes come from vessels over 260 feet, not recreational boats. NOAA’s blanket rule ignores these critical differences, endangering South Carolina’s boaters while failing to make a meaningful impact on whale conservation

The fallout from this misguided rule would be catastrophic. It threatens not only recreational boating and fishing but also jobs and entire business sectors dependent on our Atlantic access, from fisheries to coastal tourism and aquaculture. South Carolina’s economy cannot afford this ill-conceived intervention. My company, Sportsman Boats, employs more than 450 people, a small fraction of the jobs statewide that could be affected.

Read the full op-ed here.

NMMA continues to call for the withdrawal of the rule and urges NOAA and the administration to use the advanced marine technologies available to protect the North Atlantic right whale without threatening the safety of boaters and harming coastal economies. All those impacted by the NOAA rule are encouraged to write to their Member of Congress here.

Read more about what boating industry experts are saying about the rule: Charter Boat Captains, Recreational Boating Industry Experts Speak Out Against NOAA Vessel Speed Rule