Nov 21, 2023

As you read this Tuesday, November 21, the Boating BC Conference is getting started and it sounds like a full house for the excellent agenda of sessions and speakers that the association has planned. The next week is the Boating Ontario Conference and again, there is a great agenda of important sessions.

In this edition of Boating Industry Canada News Week Digest, we have an important story from The International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA), titled, New Global Research Outlines Portfolio of Technologies to Further Reduce Carbon Emissions from Recreational Boats.
 
The research specifically looks at marine propulsion in boats under 24m in length, which fits very well with the boats in Canada, and it looks at a variety of solutions to continue reducing carbon emissions from recreational boats.
 
The research report, titled Pathways to Propulsion Decarbonisation for the Recreational Marine Industry, provides guidance to global governments and boating industry stakeholders as they work together to shape investments in technology and policy. The announcement of this research comes as the global recreational marine industry, and our Government in Canada are focused on decarbonization.

In that report, it noted that “In the last two decades, the U.S. recreational marine industry alone has decreased marine engine emissions by more than 90% and increased fuel efficiency by more than 40%”. Those are incredible numbers! The general public should be made aware of this progress. I feel this is not well-known and as an industry, we should be bringing attention to this very positive data.

Also, in this edition of Boating Industry Canada News Week Digest, I offer up a little detail on the Canadian Marine Advisory Council (CMAC) sessions that I attended in Ottawa along with Marie-France Mckinnon from NMMA Canada, Josée Côté from Naustime Quebec, Rick Layzell from Boating Ontario and Bruce Hayne from Boating BC.

There is potentially a lot of legislation in the works that could impact our industry and data like that in the ICOMIA story (below) can certainly help shape positive public opinion about the progress the marine industry is making.

Andy Adams – Editor