The Sea Tow Foundation – a national nonprofit organization dedicated to the education and awareness of safe boating practices – was awarded a grant from the USCG Office of Boating Safety to conduct a nationwide survey to learn more about disposal of expired and unwanted marine flares.

A flare is a pyrotechnic type of Visual Distress Signal (VDS), and all boaters are required by the U.S. Coast Guard to carry both day and night VDS any time they are operating on coastal waters, the Great Lakes, or on the waters connecting to these areas.

The goal of the research is to develop a collaborative, nationwide flare disposal program for boaters and also encourage the use of electronic VDS (e-VDS) which are also known as e-flares. Survey data will be shared at public recreational boating meetings and conferences such as NBSAC, NASBLA, and IBWSS as well as on a website that will be populated with updates as they become available.

The survey asks for contact information solely so that if we have any follow-up questions for your location, we can more easily reach out. We will not sell your contact information or include your names in any of the data that is published or presented as a result of this survey. As an added incentive, ACR Electronics has generously donated 4 PLBs that will be randomly awarded to four of the people completing the survey and a $10 coupon code is provided at the end of the survey for all who complete the survey to shop their entire product listings with free shipping.

There are no right or wrong answers, so we only ask that you answer these questions to the best of your ability. You are welcome to forward the survey to someone else at your location if you are not best suited to complete it. The survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete.

Please note that the Sea Tow Foundation is a 501c3 organization and the grant funding referenced above is from the Sport Fish Restoration & Boating Trust Fund, administered by the Coast Guard. For questions or concerns about this survey, please feel free to email info@boatingsafety.com.