Dozens of mariners voiced their concerns Wednesday night over a newly proposed boating safety rule.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources wants to make it mandatory for anyone operating a boat to go through a safety course.

Clifford Inn from the department said, "The state's motivation for proposing this rule is safety, that's the bottom line. The state’s not making money on it, it's not a tax.  All we want people to do is go through the boating safety course."

DLNR said six people died in Hawaiian waters last year and say those numbers could be reduced if boaters were certified.

Most of the boaters who attended a public hearing in Aiea Wednesday night say they do not agree with the state’s proposed mandate.

Calvin Chin said, "Most of us who have boats we learn from our parents about safety and courtesy, so we don’t need this education thing they want to make mandatory."

David Carlson, a boater, believes the administrative rule is not specific enough.

"The thing I object about this policy is it doesn’t not say what 'operating a boat

is.  It makes us criminals if someone on our boat grabs the wheel," said Carlson.

However, not everyone at the hearing Wednesday night was against it.