39 drowned in Atlantic Canada in 2018

One third of deaths involved commercial, recreational fishing

The Canadian Red Cross says there were at least 39 unintentional water-related deaths in the Atlantic Provinces this year — a type of death that the organization says is often preventable.

There were 13 water-related deaths in Newfoundland and Labrador, four in New Brunswick, 16 in Nova Scotia and six in Prince Edward Island in 2018, the organization said Sunday.

The total number is on par with previous years for the region, where the average number of water-related fatalities over the last five years was 38, but any number is still much too high, Red Cross Atlantic communications director Dan Bedell said.

“The point we try to make each year is that obviously, we would like to see zero drownings,” he said Sunday. “Even being consistent with what we’ve seen in the past few years, it’s still way too many.”

This year, over a third of water-related deaths involved commercial or recreational fishing, at least six involved swimming and at least two involved a road vehicle entering the water.

Males ranging in age from two to 78 accounted for 33 fatalities, while females between the ages of 29 and 82 made up the other six.

The organization notes that these figures are based on obituary notices and reports from police, media and social media, and they said these statistics are not official and may change as new information becomes available.

“Red Cross statistics also exclude known or suspected suicides, which are not considered ‘unintentional’ deaths,” read a news release.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, eight of the 13 deaths were associated with commercial or recreational fishing or boating. Three others involved swimming, one involved a vehicle leaving a road and crashing into a lake, and one occurred when a woman collapsed after entering a river to cool off from the summer heat.

In New Brunswick, all four involved a watercraft overturning: an American man whose kayak overturned, a man whose canoe overturned on a lake and a father and daughter who both died after their raft overturned.

Seven of the16 fatalities in Nova Scotia were associated with commercial or recreational fishing.