Lake Ontario Charter Boat Association and the NYS Pandemic Mandate

[Legacy]

 

Lake Ontario Charter Boat Association

Captain Rob Westcott President PO Box 1046 Webster, NY 14580 [email protected] www.locba.org

April 26, 2020

 

For most of us, there has never been a time in our lives where we have had to deal with such uncertainty. Although we all have different situations and experiences, we find ourselves navigating the same rough waters.

As the President of the Lake Ontario Charter Boat Association (LOCBA) I feel it is my responsibility to help support and facilitate getting the fishing charter boat community back working. For us captains, our work is much more than a just a job, our work is our life’s passion and we are very fortunate to do something that we truly love. As United States Coast Guard licensed captains our number one priority is and always will be the health and safety of our customers and crew. In a strong federally regulated industry, this practice is something that is adhered to and executed by all of us on a constant daily basis.

Each and every captain on Lake Ontario represents a small business and that equates to hundreds of small businesses all across New York State. We are the text book definition of small business as these charter businesses in most cases are owned and operated by their respected captains. At this moment in time, as I write this, each one of those businesses is without a revenue stream and they have been since they were deemed “nonessential” by the state’s pandemic mandate. Unfortunately for us, this happened right at a time where things were beginning to ramp up for the season. For most of the Lake Ontario Charter Captains, this is their bread and butter. It is business that is solely based on season and the lost time for us is not something that we can recapture. The majority of revenue of these small businesses happens to be in a short window and due to the mandate, our window of opportunity is becoming shorter and shorter. Already the losses felt in our industry have already been substantial. As the owner of two small businesses that have been deemed “nonessential” I have personally experienced the toll that this pandemic mandate has had. As with many other small businesses in NYS, all said and done, many will not survive this.

As owners of small business, we are willing to do what it takes to get us back on the water working again and are hoping to work with those to make it happen. It is important to say that the initial purpose of this correspondence is not to demand our businesses be opened but to facilitate the means in which we can. LOCBA is not officially suggesting or submitting policy, rules, or regulations but we would be open to providing stakeholders to work with officials on a local, county, and state level.  LOCBA has compiled a list of stakeholders that could be used to help facilitate that, if deemed necessary. Lake wide and industry wide, we are willing to formulate a plan to create proper health and safety protocols to get our industry back to work.

Thank you for your time. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to myself or to LOCBA.

Captain Rob Westcott

585-703-0969

LOCBA Pandemic and Mandate.docx

[Legacy]

This letter was officially sent by LOCBA to those with political influence along with NYS politicians including Governor Cuomo. Please feel free to share this with anyone you feel needs to see this and may be able to help.

 

Website: https://lakeontariocharterboatassociation.com/

Follow us on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/lakeontariocharterboatassociation/

[Legacy]

[fisherdude]

Hope thing get back to way they were . Not sure if that will be possible till the CDC comes out with a vaccine. Setting safety protocols will help get the charter captains up and running . When Cuomo let's up on the restrictions let's hope we don't get a spike in virus cases. Which will shut it all down . PA governor open charter boats to two clients at a time sure it won't be long for New York to follow suit. Good luck this season .

Sent from my XT1609 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[ERABBIT]

Yep he opened that up with the restricted travel still in place , so confusing  ..... my summer home park was able to open over a week ago but with NY state and Pennsylvania both with travel restrictions I'm still waiting to go up to open .....good luck to you guys hope they get it done for you.

 

[Sk8man]

Hope it happens soon Ed as I know those browns are probably worrying about when you will return