Illegal boat hull cleaners risk fines

 People illegally cleaning boat hulls on the foreshore pose a threat to the marine environment and are risking daily fines of $500, the Northland Regional Council warns.

Ricky Eyre, the council’s Monitoring Programme Manager - Coastal, says in recent weeks the council has encountered a spate of several such incidents, largely in the Bay of Islands.

He says offending boat owners have been beaching their vessels at high tide and then illegally cleaning their hulls as the tide recedes.

Mr Eyre says while the beaching itself – and some boat maintenance such as changing a propeller – is not illegal; anything that creates a discharge of contaminants is not permitted in the council’s Regional Coastal Plan for Northland.

“Hull cleaning falls squarely in this category. Antifouling paint, which is often removed during the cleaning process, is by its very nature high in copper and other nasties, which are designed to prevent marine growth.

“These are fine when applied and removed in controlled circumstances such as at a suitably equipped boatyard, but can have lasting impacts on the environment when simply scraped off on the foreshore.”

Mr Eyre says among those spoken to by council staff recently have been both local and overseas yachties, including at least one who had been cleaning his vessel over a popular local shellfish bed.

Ignorance of the rules was sometimes claimed, but was no defence and those illegally cleaning boat hulls were risking fines of at least $500 a day.
The problem typically worsened at this time of year as boat owners prepared their vessels before heading overseas to escape the New Zealand winter and became an issue again in late spring as others got ready for summer.

Mr Eyre says aside from the environmental risks posed by antifouling paint, illegal hull cleaning also exposed the affected area to potential biosecurity risks from pests like Mediterranean fanworm which could be attached to hulls.  Spreading these pests was also illegal.

He says while council staff had issued warnings in the most recent cases, they had planned to fine one of the worst offenders but they had left the country before the infringement notice could be served.

Mr Eyre says generally the council preferred education over enforcement but yachties were now effectively on notice that illegal hull cleaning would not be tolerated.

■ Further information about the rules governing hull cleaning and other marine issues is available from the regional council’s website: www.nrc.govt.nz
 

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