The U.S. Coast Guard says it will pause and adjust its plan to remove nearly 150 navigational buoys from Maine waters after outcry from boaters and lawmakers.

In April, the Coast Guard posted a notice about the removals of more than 300 buoys across New England as part of a modernization plan. The agency said the goal was to modernize and rightsize the setup of buoys, most of which were deployed before modern GPS systems.

But Maine U.S. Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins, along with eight of their fellow coastal New England senators, wrote a letter to acting Coast Guard Commandant Kevin Lunday in June calling for the agency to hold off on the plan.

The senators wrote that “prudent mariners continue to depend on non-electronic and traditional means of navigation, including charts and visual navigation aids like buoys and related (aids to navigation).”

The proposal also caused confusion and concern among many mariners.

In a response to the senators’ letter dated Aug. 12, Michael Emerson, the Coast Guard’s director of Marine Transportation Systems, said his agency will “modify and extend the process” of the Coastal Buoy Modernization Initiative.

“I appreciate your concern that the Coast Guard slow down the effort to ensure that the needs of communities and mariners in your state are understood,” Emerson wrote.

Emerson wrote that the Coast Guard will review public comments and feedback and publicize any changes to its proposal. The Coast Guard received nearly 3,000 comments on its initial proposal, he said, and will now cycle through the process again.

“The Northeast District will review first round comments, assess feedback and re-advertise with any changes to the current proposal,” Emerson wrote. “This notice will include contemplated changes to aids in the vicinity of proposed discontinuations … which will provide users a more complete change picture.”

Coast Guard leaders expect to have an updated proposal by this fall, followed by another two-month public comment period.

Locations in Maine that were listed for buoy removal included Portland, Camden, Cape Neddick, Castine and Wells harbors, as well as Penobscot Bay and the Damariscotta, Penobscot, Saco and Scarborough rivers. The buoys serve various purposes, such as marking harbor entrances and coastal hazards.