Canada is the latest country to try and tackle the problem of abandoned boats littering their waterways. It was recently announced by Transport Canada that they will be looking for people to take part in their Abandoned Boats Program.
The Abandoned Boats Program (ABP) provides grant and contribution funding to assist in the removal of abandoned and/or wrecked small boats posing a hazard in Canadian waters. The program also helps to:
- Educate small boat owners about how to responsibly manage their boats
- Support research on boat recycling and environmentally responsible boat design
The ABP has two key components.
- The Assessment and Removals (A&R) Component funds boat removal assessments, and the permanent removal and disposal of abandoned and/or wrecked small boats.
- The Education, Awareness and Research (EA&R) Component funds public education projects aimed at raising awareness about boat owner responsibility, including proper end-of-life management practices. It also funds research on environmentally responsible boat design and recycling of end-of-life boats.
It will be interesting to see how the Program progresses and to see whether there are similar efforts either in the UK or Europe. There have previously been studies in Europe, most recently BoatDigest, which looked at improving awareness and infrastructure in European Boat Disposal. However, since the study finished very little has changed in the boat disposal industry.
Source: (https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/abandoned-boats-program.html) [Link No Longer Available 13/05/2019]
