Opinion-Editorial by Laura Combs
For Immediate Release: December 19, 2002

There are all sorts of rumors going around about a perceived dock moratorium that have some people in southwest Florida understandably confused. Because of a misinformation campaign, phrases such as “loss of jobs,” “economic disaster,” and “infringement on private property rights” are being bandied about, causing a loud backlash against new manatee protection measures. It’s time to set the record straight.

The so-called dock-building moratorium in southwest Florida is thought to be part of a settlement agreement made between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE), and Save the Manatee Club and 17 national and state environmental, animal welfare, and public interest groups, signed in January 2001. It is important to note that representatives from the National Marine Manufacturer’s Association, the Marina Operators Association of America, the Association of Florida Community Developers and the Marine Industries Association of Florida participated in negotiations with the plaintiffs and the government agencies (defendants) in this case and also signed the negotiated settlement agreement.

In actuality, the settlement agreement did a number of things: 1) It committed the USFWS to a rapid schedule for the designation of new manatee refuges and sanctuaries throughout Florida. 2) The USFWS and the ACOE committed to adopting "incidental take" regulations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). In issuing the MMPA rules, the USFWS agreed to evaluate, at a minimum, the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts on manatees and their habitat for all ACOE permitting activities. 3) The USFWS also determined that certain areas of the state, such as the Caloosahatchee River in southwest Florida, lacked adequate manatee protection. In the Caloosahatchee River, adequate speed zones, signage, and enforcement would all have to be in place before new water access facilities could be permitted.

These recent federal measures are based on independent scientific evidence from the Manatee Population Status Working Group and other experts that the manatee population in the southwest region is likely declining. Even so, the federal proposal clearly does not say that there will be a moratorium on permitting throughout the southwest region. Rather, it makes absolutely clear that restrictions on permitting will occur only in specific areas where protections for manatees are inadequate. Therefore, the key to solving the problem is in the hands of local, state and federal officials. The federal government has had since 1972 to address these issues, the state of Florida since 1989, and Lee County over a decade. If they would finally move quickly to adopt effective manatee protections, then permitting can proceed, sooner rather than later. If they do not, then permitting will not, and should not, proceed, for the following reasons:

The manatee is a federally listed endangered species, so federal agencies cannot, under federal law, issue permits or take other actions that adversely affect manatees and other endangered species in the absence of effective protections – a fact that is clearly spelled out in both the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. This is true whether the protections are put in place by the federal government or by other levels of government. Coming into compliance with these federal laws simply means adopting effective manatee protection -- the only way to ensure that permitting can occur consistent with federal law.

There is a dire situation facing manatees in Florida. As of December 13, there were 93 watercraft-related manatee mortalities statewide – a new record – and Lee County currently ranks first in the state in watercraft-related manatee deaths over the most recent 10-year period. Forty-eight percent of Lee County’s watercraft-related manatee deaths since 1974 have been documented in the Caloosahatchee River system, and 75 percent of the Caloosahatchee River deaths have occurred since 1990. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s November 2002 study of the Caloosahatchee River also reveals that for the past 13 years boating-related manatee deaths have been increasing faster in that river system than anywhere else in Florida.

The problems now being faced in the southwest region and other areas of Florida have been going on for years, and Save the Manatee Club has been pleading with the state and federal and county agencies to take the necessary actions the entire time. The unavoidable reality – based on scientific data – is that manatee mortality in the southwest part of the state is too high and must be reduced. We need to get together and find solutions to reduce manatee mortality – real, comprehensive solutions, rather than quick fixes that do little to ensure the long-term survival of manatees.

Save the Manatee Club has no hidden anti-boating or anti-growth agenda. Our message is simple: government actions need to be in compliance with federal laws and effective manatee protection measures need to need to be in place before new docks (and the subsequent boat traffic associated with them) are authorized. As local, state, and federal governments attempt to shift the responsibility, manatees are being killed in record numbers and permitting is being curtailed. This need not be the case! And it is up to all of us, working together, to expedite the proper protection measures necessary to put this issue behind us.

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