Sailing Charters and Boat Tours in San
Diego
Port of San Diego hopes to get a grip on illegal
charters
Sailboat Sightseeing Tour San
Diego
Port of San Diego hopes to get a grip on illegal
charters
Parimal M. RohitJune 21,
2018
Community input meeting is met with
standing-room-only crowd, but solutions remain unclear.
SAN DIEGO — Frustration? Meet Bureaucracy. Bureaucracy? Meet Frustration. Tempers aren’t yet
flaring but local anglers, boaters and other maritime professionals are engaged in a tense dance
with Port of San Diego officials, with both sides trying to figure out how to address the topic of
illegal charter operations. Also in the mix is the U.S. Coast Guard and San Diego city officials,
meaning there are several thumbs in the pie.
Whether there are too many cooks in the kitchen
remains to be seen, but there were certainly an overflow of attendees at a recent public
workshop on illegal charter operations. Port district staff hosted the workshop in hopes of
gathering as much input as possible within a one-hour span.
It could be a while before the provided input –
and there was certainly plenty of input to go around – translates into tangible policy. Even
more time would pass before whatever the Port of San Diego decides to enact trickles up north
and (potentially) influences policymaking at other harbors and
marinas.
The issue, of course, is the pursuit of
operating a boating-themed business while circumventing already established regulations.
There appears to be no shortage of people out there who offer fishing trips, harbor tours or
whale-watching excursions without meeting Coast Guard or Port of San Diego requirements.
These under-the-radar operations, in turn, avoid sharing a slice of their respective revenues
with the port district, while also undercutting the regulation-complying
competition.
Those illegal charter operators, coincidentally
and obviously, were probably the only ones not attending the Port of San Diego public
workshop (which was held at the port’s headquarters on June
4).
The regulation-complying operators – and those
attempting to comply – took turns sharing their perspectives on how to minimize illegal
charter operations, which happens to be a prevailing issue at several harbors. (The Log has
already covered this topic in Dana Point and Marina del Rey, for
example.)
Some believed stricter or more proactive
enforcement of the rules and regulations already on the books would go a long way in reducing
illegal charter operations in San Diego Bay.
Others worried the advent of illegal charter
operations was the direct result of bureaucracy and frustration with the system. One person
who moved to San Diego from Alaska, for example, stated he has been making every effort to
start his own compliant charter operation but has been unable to do so because the port
district makes it too difficult to succeed.
Yet another complaint: Marinas, which are given
deference to provide charter operations with dock space, aren’t cooperating. Several charter
operators who attended the June 4 workshop complained marinas don’t accept such vessels at
their docks.
The advent of illegal charter operations
translates into the industry as a whole becomes less and less lucrative for those who do
follow the rules, according to one operator. Illegal charter operators charge lower rates,
which means those who operate legally have to maintain low prices themselves just to compete.
Yet how can regulation-following charters function financially whey they can’t make enough
money to cover compliance issues or what they owe to the
port?
Also complicating the issue is the
multijurisdictional element of enforcing regulations. Agencies on the federal, state and
local level are all involved.
San Diego’s Harbor Police, meanwhile, hopes to
address the issue through increased education.
“I don’t want to criminalize everything. I don’t
want to make this a law enforcement … issue,” Chief Mark Stainbrook told the standing-room
audience at the June 4 workshop.
Stainbrook added it was his aim to share with as
many people as possible the rules and regulations for them to follow. Yet some stated
education is not enough, adding fines and enforcement of regulations already on the book must
be part of the port district’s approach in addressing illegal charter
operations.
Establishing dedicated public dock space for all
charter operations or maintaining a sanctioned marina/landing was also suggested at the
public workshop.
The port district also has to factor Mission Bay
into the equation; the area north of the port district is within the city of San Diego’s
jurisdiction. Any approved policy, ideally, would be a coordinated effort between the port
district and San Diego City Hall, as to prevent illegal charter operations leaving the harbor
and invading Mission Bay.
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