Manatees Afforded Additional Federal Protection
Three new federal manatee protection areas have been established by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The federal agency designated areas in the Florida counties of Lee, Duval, Clay, St. Johns and Volusia as manatee refuges and issued regulations for waterborne activities.
Watercraft in the three areas are required to operate at either slow speed or not more than 25 miles per hour in accordance with agency rules.
The West Indian manatee, which is the species found in Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico, Mexico and the Caribbean, have been considered endangered since 1967. The species is protected under the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, the 1973 Endangered Species Act and the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act of 1978.
Estimates find some 3,000 of the animals remaining within the United States. Although habitat loss is the most serious threat to the species, these large, slow moving mammals are susceptible to fast moving boats.
A record 95 manatee deaths were linked to boating accidents in 2002.
The agency says its decision took into account the dramatic increase in human use of the waters in Florida. The human population of Florida has grown by 146 percent since 1970, from 6.8 million to 16.7 million residents and is expected to exceed 18 million by 2010, and 20 million by 2020.
According to a report by the Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research (2000), it is expected that, by 2010, 13.7 million people will reside in the 35 coastal counties of Florida.
It is also expected that Florida will have 83 million visitors annually by 2020, up from 48.7 million visitors in 1998.
The number of registered watercraft has increased 59 percent since 1993.
“Because the manatee has a low reproductive rate, a decrease in adult survivorship due to any cause, including watercraft collisions, could contribute to a long-term population decline,” according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. “It is believed that a one percent change in adult survival likely results in a corresponding change in the rate of population growth or decline.”
Provided by theEnvironmental News Service.
