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Location: Essexville, MI./Saginaw Bay. | Erie fishermen off the hook on customs rule
Background checks won't be needed for those entering Canadian waters
Thursday, April 10, 2008 3:34 AM
By Jeffrey Sheban
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
U.S. customs officials have scuttled plans to require background checks for
Great Lakes fishermen and divers entering Canadian waters.
Anglers and divers still will be subject to identification checks if they dock
in Canada, however.
Under pressure from charter-boat captains, sports fishermen and others tied to
Lake Erie's $1 billion fishing industry, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Service won't implement the toughest Homeland Security requirements for those
simply crossing into Canadian waters on day trips.
The decision Friday was not widely publicized, said customs spokesman Brett
Sturgeon. The customs agency is a division of the Homeland Security Department.
"For the average fishermen, this is wonderful news," said Rick Unger, president
of the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association and operator of a boat in Marblehead.
Unger's fishing season starts May 1, but some of Lake Erie's hundreds of charter
captains already are in the water, he said. Fishing trips to deeper and cooler
Canadian waters, where fish are more plentiful, pick up in June.
"We're glad that they're putting common sense to use," added Steven Fought,
spokesman for U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, who sent a letter this week to
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff asking that the rules be modified.
The proposed rules, shared with 200 charter-boat captains meeting in Sandusky
last month, would have required captains to do the following whenever crossing
into Canadian waters:
* Ask for two forms of ID and fax passengers' personal information -- name, date
of birth, driver's license and phone numbers -- to customs an hour before
departure. Passengers would have been subject to security background checks.
* Call customs at least one hour before returning to port to see whether anyone
on board is wanted for questioning. If so, captains could have been asked to
deliver those passengers to authorities.
Now, Unger said passengers will not be required to show ID before fishing trips
that dock in Canada, but they will be required to show a passport or two forms
of ID to customs upon their return.
Passengers can visit a customs office or use satellite videophones at various
ports.
Simply crossing into Canadian waters without docking won't trigger any ID
requirements -- same as in previous years, he said.
"This is big news and we're really pleased," he said.
Unger said negotiations with customs officials are continuing to make the rules
as simple as possible for everyone.
[email protected]
v/r,
LCDR Greg Fondran
Ninth Coast Guard District
Public & Governmental Affairs
1240 E. 9th St., Rm. 2073
Cleveland, OH 44199
(216) 902-6021/27 (phone/fax)
(216) 990-2611 (cell)
"America's FRESHWATER Coast Guard"
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