News Release
Councillor Seeks Changes To New Provincial Diving Regulations
(Friday, May 12/06)-- District 6 Councillor Andrew Younger (East Dartmouth/The Lakes) today urged the provincial government to reconsider some of its changes to regulations governing scuba diving in Nova Scotia.
In particular, Councillor Younger is asking that new regulations which are being applied to commercial shellfish harvesting not be applied to sport diving operations. The province has recently introduced changes to improve safety for commercial operations, such as harvesting of shell fish.
The Councillor is concerned that the regulations, as currently written, have the potential to significantly increase the cost of recreational diving in the province. “As currently written, the regulations would not permit certified divemasters and instructors to lead diving excursions for other certified divers without other shore-based staff on hand,” says Councillor Younger. “This has the potential to increase cost and practicality of a quickly growing industry of sport diving tourism.”
Currently, divemasters can take certified divers on orientation dives. Divemasters and instructors are governed by safety regulations set by international organizations, such as the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) and the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) which limit the ratio of divers to each dive leader.
He said the rules proposed by the province would mean that anytime a student or visiting diver is taken out for a shore dive in Nova Scotian waters, there must be three people (including a divemaster and shore-based dive supervisor), as well as complete maintenance records for all equipment used.
For dives involving penetration of wrecks, surface supplied air and communications gear will be required, according to the new regulations. “The new rules are entirely impractical for sport diving and do not recognize the very strict industry regulations and insurance requirements already in place,” says Councillor Younger. “While these regulations may be appropriate for industries, such as the commercial harvesting of sea urchins, they are not practical, or even financially realistic in some cases, for sport diving.”
Councillor Younger says the new regulations would not only impact diving shops in HRM across Nova Scotia, but the many boat operators and other spin-off businesses that rely on the sport diving industry for an increasingly large portion of their business. At least two boat operators in HRM run dive trips multiple times each week throughout the summer.
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Councillor Andrew Younger
(902) 476-1727
