Change in Survival Craft Requirements for Commercial Fishing Vessels
Beginning on February 26, 2016, all commercial fishing vessels operating beyond 3 NM from shore are required to carry a Survival Craft that ensures no part of an individual is immersed in water. The minimum Survival Craft that currently meets this requirement is either a Buoyant Apparatus or a Life Float. Survival Craft exemption letters issued by the Coast Guard Seventeenth District (AK) that allow commercial fishing vessels to satisfy their Survival Craft requirement with a suitable "skiff" will become invalid for commercial fishing vessels operating beyond 3 NM shore from shore on February 26, 2016.
January 22, 2016