COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina hit an all-time low with 14 boating fatalities last year, the state Natural Resources Department said Thursday.

Maj. Alvin Taylor with the agency's Marine Law Enforcement Investigations and Education Section says increased penalties for boating crimes and more awareness of water safety have led to a steady decline the past five years.

There were 34 people killed on the state's waters in 1997 and 28 in 1998. There were 18 such deaths in 1999 and 2001, and 15 in 2000.

"We are encouraged by this downward trend in state boating deaths," Taylor said.

Col. Alvin Wright, deputy director of the department's Law Enforcement Division, says fewer people are drinking and boating, making rivers, lakes and coastal areas in South Carolina safer.

"Our job now is to be vigilant and maintain the current level of DNR boat patrols, boating safety enforcement on state waters and agency approved boater education programs," Wright said.

Wright says that won't be easy. The department lost 54 conservation officers because of state budget problems.

South Carolina has about 460,000 acres of lakes, 8,000 miles of rivers and 3,000 miles of coastline and offshore waters.