Governor's Request Keeps Manatee in Endangered Class

The commissioners also asked their staff to look at the flawed state classification system for all species that have been subjects of petitions and are in the reclassification process.

Commissioners said they heard the comments from stakeholders and the governor and they want to "consider a new paradigm for the listing process."

"An imperiled species listing process should be designed in a way that it is easy for the public to understand," said Kipp Frohlich, team leader for the statemanatee plan. "A listing process should not be a source of confusion or divisiveness."

Staff now will "work with stakeholders to get input about alternatives."

In September the governor sent a letter to commission chair Rodney Barreto requesting that the vote be postponed until newly appointed members of the commission had the opportunity to adequately access the best course of action for the Florida manatee.

Manatees in Florida waters (Photo © David R. Schrichte courtesy Save the Manatee Club)

Citing the need for a better method to estimate the manatee population as well as the record number of 417 manatee deaths in 2006, Crist asked the commission to reject the downlisting from endangered status to threatened.

"We need to protect these gentle creatures, and I've consistently felt that way," said Crist, who as a state senator pushed a bill to require propeller guards for boats. Slow-moving manatees are vulnerable to propeller wounds, the leading cause of manatee death.

"The Florida manatee is a state treasure," Crist said in September. "To act hastily in changing its classification could prove irresponsible to the conservation of this gentle giant."

The commission today did approve a 281 page manatee management plan that sets policies for protection zones near natural or industrial warm-water sites, law enforcement, monitoring, research and public education.

"Today we had a landmark opportunity to pass the manatee management plan," said Barreto. "It's the right decision."

A subspecies of the West Indian Manatee averaging 10 feet long and 1,000 pounds, the manatee, Trichechus manatus latirostris, is an herbivorous sea mammal that eats as much as 15 percent of its body weight in plants daily.

The downlisting has been in the works since 2001 when the commission first received a petition for reassessment of the manatee's status from the Coastal Conservation Association of Florida, which represents saltwater anglers.

CCA Florida maintains that manatee numbers are increasing. Making its case for reclassification in 2001, the group noted that state and federal scientists had just counted an all time record 3,276 manatees in statewide aerial surveys - more than double the number counted 10 years before.

But manatee numbers have declined since then, and the most recent population counts show just 2,500 mature manatees in Florida.

Manatee numbers may be declining but the ranks of their supporters are growing. Commission staff reported that the governor's office received over 28,000 messages on manatees - the majority of them in favor of keeping manatees classified as endangered.

The commission's decision to defer a decision on downlisting the manatee's conservation status follows the first assessment of the species as Endangered by the IUCN-World Conservation Union, issued in September. This international organization maintains the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

"The population is estimated to decline by at least 20 percent over the next two generations (estimated at ~40 years) due to anticipated future changes in warm-water habitat and threats from increasing watercraft traffic over the next several decades," the IUCN wrote on its Red List.

The manatee has been listed as a endangered species by the U.S. government since 1967. The species was protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972 and by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species treaty in 1973. The state of Florida was designated a refuge and sanctuary for manatees by the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act in 1978.

But that does not keep the boating enthusiasts from trying to take more aquatic space for themselves. Florida currently has about one million registered boats. In 2005, the commission received an informal petition from Citizens for Florida's Waterways requesting the addition of several higher speed corridors and water sports areas in the central portion of the county.

Under its downlisting plan, the state would issue more building permits at a faster rate in manatee habitat. It would extend greater leeway to grant exemptions to speed limits and access bans in areas where slow-moving manatees are most vulnerable to propeller wounds.

Environmentalists around the country hailed the governor's pro-manatee position. Defenders of Wildlife applauded Governor Crist's request to maintain the manatee's endangered status, saying, "His prudent action today could very well assure a healthy future for the manatee."

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2007. All rights reserved.