MELBOURNE, Fla. (AP) -- Almost a decade after the number of boaters in Florida took a nosedive, the number of registered vessels is inching its way back up.
Florida Today reported Saturday that there were more than 95,000 fewer registered vessels in 2016 than a decade earlier.
That's a 9.3 percent dip.
The number of boats in Florida bottomed out in 2013 at almost 897,000 vessels.
It has gradually increased over the past three years and that figure now stands at more than 931,000 boats.
Michele Miller of the Marine Industry Association of Florida says the number of boats tracks economic conditions.
It declined during the Great Recession and has bounced back with improving economic conditions.
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