Since V.I. Coral Reef National Monument doesn’t yet have management and commercial-use plans, commercial boating operations will be unable to use monument waters—until at least 2012.
The monument, located on the eastern end of St. John, includes Hurricane Hole.
It will be two years before the monument management plan is complete, V.I. National Park Superintendent Mark Hardgrove said Tuesday. He said the commercial use plan will follow.
The park staff manages the monument. It was established in 2001 thanks to action by former President Bill Clinton.
Recently, a couple of commercial boating operations were advised to stop using the monument, Hardgrove said. He said he "expects more and more of this," so the park is calling a halt to commercial use of the monument until the management and commercial use plans are done.
"We recently started contacting folks we saw in there," he said.
Those boating operators using the monument have commercial use permits for the park. However, Hardgrove said those commercial boaters assumed that since they had the park permits they could use the monument waters.
Private boaters who don’t charge may use the monument, Hardgrove said.
Robin Gallup was using the monument for day charters aboard her boat, Long Distance. She was one of the ones who got a call.
"I understand, but I wish it could be shorter," she said, referring to the two-year time frame to complete the monument management plan.
Gallup pointed out that many charter boats use the monument, particularly when the seas are rough along the north shore.
"They swing into Hurricane Hole for their second snorkel," she said.
She wondered if bareboat charters and the small power boats rented by the day to vacationers were considered commercial.
"They’re in there all the time," she said.
For more information on commercial use permits in the park, call the park’s special use coordinator at 776–6201.