Opinion-Editorial
For Immediate Release: March 28, 2005

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC) is gearing up once again to move forward with rule amendments that ratify their flawed and misguided listing/delisting criteria under the Florida Endangered Species Act. (Note: this is not the same law as the federal Endangered Species Act, which must still be applied to listed species in Florida.)

The FWCC’s listing criteria are based on the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN) extremely stringent, "one-size-fits-all-species" listing criteria, which are designed to address species in danger of extinction on a global scale. The state’s criteria, which were first adopted in 1999 by the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission (now FWCC), escaped the notice of conservation groups until the FWCC moved to downlist the red-cockaded woodpecker in 2001. (Incredibly, FWCC downlisted the little bird to “species of special concern” even though most experts advised against it and even though it is still listed as endangered under federal law.)

Despite reconvening a stakeholder’s panel (which could not reach consensus on several key points), FWCC could not quell lasting concerns among many experts that the criteria are inappropriate to address long-lived, slow reproducing aquatic species like manatees, whales and sea turtles. Under the FWCC’s rule, manatees and several other imperiled species in Florida are likely to be downlisted or even delisted. The reason is not because any of these species are doing well and moving toward recovery, but because the criteria to assess their status has changed.

Save the Manatee Club (SMC) has asked the FWCC to consider adopting the federal ESA listing/delisting factors that are more flexible and species-specific and that address habitat stability and controlling threats to the species. The agency is non-receptive to the proposal. So, as it stands, we have one government agency using apples and the other using oranges to determine a species’ fate. If the state and federal governments are working together to realize the goal of achieving recovery, as well as establishing trust with the public, they should be on the same page as to a species’ status. At the very least, the state should not assign to a lower category a species that is listed as endangered at the federal level.

SMC is also urging the FWCC, before taking any further action, to appoint a panel of experts to review the criteria and make recommendations. As we have repeatedly stated, any assessment of the biological status of any species should be based on scientific benchmarks similar to those supported by the Manatee Population Status Working Group, including:

• Stable or increasing survival rates of all age classes
• Stable or increasing reproductive rates
• Comprehensive habitat protection
• Significant reduction of human-related mortality

The FWCC intends to adopt the amendments to their criteria on April 14, 2005. We are strongly urging them - for the future of all of Florida’s imperiled species - to go back to the drawing board and enlist the help of independent scientific experts to draft more adaptive criteria. Downlisting will be embraced by conservationists when true recovery is achieved.

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Patti Thompson is the Director of Science and Conservation for Save the Manatee Club and has been working with manatees for the past 17 years. She is a biologist with expertise in manatees and conservation. Patti has participated on numerous technical advisory committees at all levels of government. She received an award for her outstanding contributions to sirenian conservation at the International Sirenian Workshop in 2004.

Read a letter providing comments on the status of manatees by Robert H. Mattlin, Executive Director of the Marine Mammal Commission.

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