Tasmanian coroner calls for life jacket reform after trout angler’s vessel strikes submerged log

Tasmania’s marine safety by-laws should be amended to require boat operators to wear life jackets even when their vessel was not under power, a coroner has recommended.

Lake Burbury is a popular fishing lake on the edge of Tasmania's World Heritage Wilderness Area. Photo - Tourism Tasmania

Tasmania’s marine safety by-laws should be amended to require boat operators to wear life jackets even when their vessel was not under power, a coroner has recommended.

Investigating the death of a 47-year-old trout angler who drowned on Lake Burbury near Queenstown in February 2022, Coroner Robert Webster found the man had likely fallen into the water after striking a submerged log while drift fishing with his engine in neutral.

An experienced police officer also told the inquest that search and rescue operations on the notoriously hazardous lake were made more challenging by Hydro Tasmania’s consistent refusal to provide depth charts, which effectively prevented the participation of radar-equipped vessels.

Coroner Webster found that the angler, referred to as “DS”, had travelled to Lake Burbury with fellow members of a fishing club, but had headed out on the water in his boat alone on the afternoon of Saturday 12 February, 2022.

Friends described the conditions on the lake that day as perfect for boating, with flat water and good visibility.

Fellow club members said they were not alarmed when DS failed to return to camp before dark, as he often stayed out on the water for longer.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, with the wind picking up significantly, DS’s friends boarded the largest of their boats to search the shore within around a 5km radius of the boat ramp.

With no sign of DS and weather conditions deteriorating, the club members contacted police who commenced a waterborne search for the missing man.

Just before 4pm, police recovered the body of DS from the water, where it was noted he was not wearing a life jacket.

The following day, DS’s aluminium vessel was located 4km south from where his body was found.

Police reported that the boat’s engine was not running, its throttle was in the idle position, and the gearbox was in neutral.

Coroner Webster said that subsequent drift testing revealed a high likelihood the vessel had been travelling sideways, struck the bottom or a submerged object such as a tree, and the momentum of a standing person would easily carry them overboard.

Coroner Webster said the evidence of damage to the inside of DS’s boat suggested an unexpected fall as a result of the boat running aground or hitting a submerged tree or log.

“I also conclude at the time of the fall DS was drift fishing with the boat’s engine in neutral,” the coroner said.

“Had he not been drift fishing then given his safety conscious nature I would have expected him to have been wearing his life jacket.

“There is no evidence DS’s death occurred otherwise than by accident. In my view further deaths may well be prevented if the by-laws are amended.

“I therefore recommend the by-laws are amended so that people who are alone and on a motor boat in smooth waters are required to wear an approved life jacket even when not under power; that is for example when they are drift fishing or stopped in order to have lunch.”

Originally published as Tasmanian coroner calls for life jacket reform after trout angler’s vessel strikes submerged log