Boating Season Wraps up

Maybe not so much for us down South, but for most of the nation, Labor Day marks the end of the summer and the wrap up of boating season.
It’s been a busy one on Coast waters. The Department of Marine Resources gave out twice as many tickets this year than last year’s boating season. News 25’s Gina Tomlinson caught up with the Chief of the DMR to find out why.
Five people lost their lives on Coast waters this boating season, but the DMR’s Marine Patrol Chief Keith Davis says one death stood out from the rest. “Unfortunately, we did have one horrific tragedy that happened this year in Hancock County where one individual lost their lives.”
Davis is referring to a 19-year-old woman from the Kiln, killed in Bayou Caddy after a boat broadsided the boat she was in. Four other people drowned this year, and while tragic, nearly twice as many people were killed in the 2015 boating season. “Things can go bad really quick, so we need to make sure we have an adequate number of officers out there to respond to emergency situations as we can,” said Davis.
The DMR’s Marine Patrol has doubled this year, so has the amount of tickets, Chief Davis credits this is part for the reduction in water fatalities this year. “When law enforcement activity increases, the amount of tragedies decrease.”
While the number of citations has been on the rise, the number of courtesy citations has decreased by almost half. With these tickets, you don’t got to court, it’s just a warning. “A courtesy citation covers any state law that we are authorized to write a real citation for with the exception of BUI’s,” said Davis.
Chief Davis says that even though the number of tickets has gone up, water fatalities have gone down. They hope to keep it that way. “We do believe that more people are being more cautious when they’re enjoying the water.”