Contacts:
John Cannaday, New York Sea Grant Great Lakes Recreation and Tourism Specialist, E: jdc378@cornell.edu, P: 315-849-4436
Kara Lynn Dunn, NYSG's Freelance Great Lakes Publicist, E: karalynn@gisco.net, P: (315) 465-7578
Oswego, NY, June 5, 2025 - Information for safe, legal, and environmentally-friendly boating on New York waters in 2025 is now available at www.nyseagrant.org/safeboating. New York Sea Grant has updated the resources and links on the website to help novice and experienced boaters.
The resources include New York Sea Grant’s new Boating Emergency Equipment checklist by type of vessel, including non-motorized paddle craft and sailboats, personal watercraft, motorized watercraft under 16 feet length, and watercraft of 16-26 feet length. Marina operators can download a rack card version of the Boating Emergency Equipment checklist.
If you haven’t yet become certified to operate a motorized recreational vessel on New York waters as required by Brianna’s law for all operators in 2025, the www.nyseagrant.org/safeboating site provides links to agencies and organizations offering the required certification course. All operators of motorized vessels, including personal watercraft, must carry a boater education certification card with them.
The www.nyseagrant.org/safeboating site also provides information on how to replace a lost boater safety certificate and how to have the certification added to a driver’s license.
Additionally, the user-friendly site includes:
• how to request a vessel safety check from the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary or Power Squadron
• how to select a properly-fitted, U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal floatation device (PFD)
• why and how to file a float plan
• Clean, Drain, Dry instructions for motorized and non-motorized boaters, to help slow and prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species between water bodies
• a link to the New York State Boating Guide in English and Spanish
• Boating and beach hazards cards in English and Spanish
• a link to boating product recall alerts.
More Info: New York Sea Grant
Established in 1966, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s National Sea Grant College Program promotes the informed stewardship of coastal resources in 34 joint federal/state university-based programs in every U.S. coastal state (marine and Great Lakes) and Puerto Rico. The Sea Grant model has also inspired similar projects in the Pacific region, Korea and Indonesia.
Since 1971, New York Sea Grant (NYSG) has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.
NYSG historically leverages on average a 3 to 6-fold return on each invested federal dollar, annually. We benefit from this, as these resources are invested in Sea Grant staff and their work in communities right here in New York.
Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.
New York Sea Grant, one of the largest of the state Sea Grant programs, is a cooperative program of the State University of New York (SUNY) and Cornell University. The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY Oswego, the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark, and in Watertown. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County on Long Island, in Queens, at Brooklyn College, with Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC, in Bronx, with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County in Kingston, and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester County in Elmsford.
For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org, follow us on social media (Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, Bluesky, LinkedIn, and YouTube). NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which it publishes 2-3 times a year.