Catawba Show Is a go; RBFF Hands Out Grants
Author:
Mar 16, 2021
The first in-person boat show on the Great Lakes in more than 15 months is headed for Lake Erie, according to the Lake Erie Marine Trades Association. Meanwhile, the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation announced 16 grants to increase boating and fishing participation in eight states.
After being Covid-cancelled last spring, the Catawba Island Boat Show will mark its 16
th year when it drops anchor at the Catawba Island Club from April 30 to May 2 in Port Clinton, Ohio.
“Over the years, this in-water show has become viewed by boaters as the kick-off of Ohio’s boating season, particularly in the Lake Erie region,” says Michelle Burke, LEMTA president. “So to welcome everyone back, we’re going to play up that view by adding new features, including a select food truck rally, live musical entertainment, boating and fishing clinics, wine-tasting events, a craft beer mini-festival and more.”
Addressing the Issue of Mental Health
Author:
Anxiety. Depression. Stress. Burnout. PTSD.
All of these and more encompass mental health considerations because they impact how a person thinks, feels, behaves, makes choices and relates to others.
In a candid look at today’s mental health issues, triggered by living one year in an unprecedented pandemic, the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas and the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association are each taking a lead role in helping the boating industry recognize and adopt ways to deal with this often-unsung reality.
Anxiety is the most common mental health concern in America today, especially thanks to Covid. Is my livelihood secure? Will my wife still be able to work? Can my kids go to school? Can I visit my aging parents? Should I shop in a crowded grocery store? These and many more concerns easily make us anxious. That can directly affect our performance and our relationships with fellow workers and customers. We need to
Boat Shows are Back
Mar 9, 2021
If there were any doubts about the future of boat shows, given the unsettledness of the Covid-19 pandemic, they were soundly laid to rest last weekend as two more shows chalked up strong attendance and good sales.
The Orlando Boat Show at the Orange County Convention Center in Florida had its highest attendance in a decade, topping the 2019 attendance by a whopping 66 percent. (Covid scuttled the 2020 show.) Equally important, this was the first indoor major-market show since the pandemic started to wipe out the industry’s indoor events a year ago.
“This success is beyond anything we imagined,” said David Ray, executive director of the Marine Industry Association of Central Florida. “While outdoor shows have done well, like our recent Daytona show that set a 20-year attendance record, we were not certain what the response would be to a big indoor event. So we budgeted for a possible 50 percent drop in our normal attendance and hoped it migh
Caught Red-Handed
Mar 4, 2021
I get tired of reading comments by commercial fisherman that recreational anglers ignore the law and overfish their share of popular species. However, an arrest by the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission puts the shoe on the other foot.
Two commercial fishermen in Florida were jailed last week for possessing an illegal haul after a Monroe County Sheriff’s deputy stopped their van for speeding and following too closely in the Keys. As the
Miami Herald’s Gwen Filosa
reported, the deputy “smelled something fishy.”
Indeed, there was.
The deputy reported that he could smell fish as he approached the van and called in officers from FWC. They discovered a haul of illegal seafood that started with 100 undersized wring lobster tails.
Time to Cry Foul Over Erie Canal Changes
Author:
Mar 2, 2021
BoatUS is sounding the alarm on proposed management changes to the New York State Canal System that, if passed, could trigger negative consequences on the historic waterway for years to come and not just in New York. Urging immediate engagement by their members are the Michigan Boating Industries Association, the Boating Associations of Ohio, the Lake Erie Marine Trades Association and other Great Lakes stakeholders.
An act has been introduced in the waning days of New York’s annual budget process that allows no opportunity for public input. BoatUS is urging its 44,000 New York members plus all canal community members and the boaters in many states that use the Erie Canal and others in the canal system for transit in and out of the Great Lakes and Canada to make their voices heard by insisting that legislators immediately remove Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 30-day budget amendment, TED Bill Part VV, distractingly calle