Now that we are into the second half of the Maine summer, it’s good to brush up on the hazards and risks possible when we’re out enjoying summer activities on the water. While 2025 is shaping up to be on par with previous summers in terms of the number of accidents, any boating fatality is one too many.

When I served on the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW) Committee in the Legislature, we worked hard to create boater-safety courses for everyone on the water. Until 2024, Maine was an outlier compared to the vast majority of other states when it came to boater education, only requiring classes for 16- and 17-year-olds to operate personal watercraft.

Beginning in January 2024, Maine state law began requiring every person born after Jan. 1, 1999, to complete a mandatory boater safety and education course to operate a motorboat over 25 horsepower — with exceptions for commercial operations, Registered Maine Guides and other maritime-license holders.

People between the ages of 35 and 65 suffer the largest number of accidents and fatalities in Maine, but in the spirit of compromise, the IFW Committee landed on a law that starts with younger folks, because eventually, every recreational boater will have taken a safety course. You can learn more about where to take the classes, available online and in person, and get answers to any questions you might have on the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s website.

The Legislature continued to work on safety in the water this year in a number of ways, both in recreational boating and commercial fishing. Because I am a canoeist by avocation, I tackled Maine’s rules about age requirements to wear a life jacket or personal flotation device (PFD) during recreational boating. Working with a constituent who has been teaching boater safety classes for the United States Power Squadron, I sponsored LD 1042, which raised the age from 10 to 12 for those required to wear a PFD in order to be consistent with Coast Guard regulations.

The Coast Guard’s 2023 Recreational Boating Statistics identified 377 deaths due to drowning, accounting for 75% of fatal boating accidents. Of those drowning victims where data was available, 87% were not wearing a life jacket. Testimony from a former Maine Marine Patrol officer on the issue has stayed with me: In the 25 years he was involved in the recovery of many, many bodies that ended up in the water, he testified that, “Exactly zero of the victims were wearing a PFD.”

I’m grateful that the bill received unanimous support in the Legislature and was signed into law in May.

Commercial fishing brings its own risks in Maine, where it is considered one of the most hazardous occupations in the nation. Commercial fishing has a fatality rate over 40 times higher than the national average for other occupations. Downeast Maine suffered five fishing-related deaths in the last two years, four in the past year.

These recent Maine fishing tragedies inspired some important action in our state inside and outside of the Legislature. As House chairperson of the Marine Resources Committee, I was proud to help pass LD 1708, a bill to create a fund for commercial fishing safety. This legislation, sponsored by Rep. Tiffany Strout, R-Harrington, honors two fishermen in her community lost at sea last year and creates a fishing-safety fund for equipment and training for rescue personnel when a fishing vessel goes missing.

Additionally, earlier this year, Liz Michaud founded Green and White Hope in memory of her nephew. This organization is working to expand safety education, access to new technology and equipment, and to accelerate the rescue and recovery processes.

Overseeing all of this action is Maine’s Department of Marine Resources’ (DMR) Commercial Fishing Safety Council. The council already advises DMR on safety issues like training, equipment and standards for the state’s commercial fishing industry. They will now also administer the fund created by LD 1708 and highlight the resources identified by Green and White Hope.

Maine, with her 3,500 miles of coastline, bays, over 32,000 miles of rivers and streams, and 6,000 lakes and ponds, makes it impossible not to want to be in or on the water. I’m proud of the work the Legislature has done to enable us all to engage the water with joy but also with respect and safety.

Rep. Allison Hepler is the House chairperson of the Marine Resources Committee and is a member of the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee. She is serving her fourth term in the Maine House and represents Arrowsic, Georgetown, Phippsburg, West Bath and Woolwich.