The Kelowna RCMP police boat is pictured in this contributed photo.
Image Credit: Contributed/Tami Quan
August 25, 2017 - 8:00 PM
WEST KELOWNA - A voluntary vessel safety pre-check will be conducted by the West Kelowna RCMP volunteers tomorrow.
A voluntary vessel safety pre-check will take place at the Gellatly Bay public boat launch in West Kelowna tomorrow, Aug. 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to an RCMP media release.
Volunteers will ask boat operators to complete a voluntary pre-launch inspection of the minimum safety equipment items required under the Canada Shipping Act.
"Each of the RCMP Volunteers, who hold valid boating licenses, have recently received training from an official with Transport Canada," West Kelowna RCMP crime prevention coordinator Roy Morgan says in the release.
Boat operators will be presented with a document after the inspection which they can produce if they are ever stopped by the RCMP patrol boat.
"This is a prevention and education measure that not only assists the RCMP officers on the waters of Okanagan Lake but enhances public safety by providing those boat operators the opportunity to correct any deficiencies they might have prior to launching into the water," Cpl. Jesse O'Donaghey says in the release.
The "Clean, Drain, Dry" and "Don’t Move a Mussel" campaigns will also be promoted. These campaigns have been introduced to combat the threat of aquatic invasive species getting into the water systems in the Okanagan.
"Our volunteers will also be visually checking boats and their trailers for any potential signs of invasive quagga and zebra mussels after the group recently had been given training by an inspector of the province’s Invasive Mussel Defence Program," Morgan says.
For more information on the invasive mussel campaigns visit this website.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2017