Mar 22, 2022 - News

More than 1 million boats are now registered in Florida

A ton of boats float on a river

An aerial view of the 2021 Stanley Cup victory boat parade on the Hillsborough River in July. Photo: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images

Florida has surpassed 1 million registered recreational vessels (aka boats), the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced this week.

By the numbers: Tampa Bay has two of the state's top five counties for vessel registration β€” Pinellas (53,867) and Hillsborough (41,495).

  • The others: Miami-Dade (74,622), Lee (50,304) and Broward (47,741).

Why it matters: While Florida leads the nation in most registered boats, it also has the highest number of reported boating accidents.

  • In 2020, 836 boating accidents were reported to the FWC, including 79 deaths (with five missing persons presumed dead) and 534 injuries.
  • Most recently, a man drowned while trying to tow his boat back to shore on Lake Seminole β€” hours after firefighters had rescued him from the sinking boat.

Be smart: FWC encourages boaters to wear life jackets, maintain 360-degree awareness and know the dangers of (and penalties for) operating a vessel while impaired.

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