For Immediate Release: May 14, 2003

Following on the heels of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's (Service) determination that they cannot authorize the incidental take of a single manatee under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), they have taken the antithetical and completely irrational step of lifting the Area of Inadequate Protection (AIP) designation for the Caloosahatchee River in Lee County, the deadliest river for manatees in the state of Florida. Lifting the AIP designation means that the Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will potentially allow a new explosion of harmful projects in an area that has already been, and continues to be, a death trap for manatees. Manatees are protected under the MMPA and the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).

In a letter dated May 13, 2003 from the Service’s Regional Director, Sam Hamilton, to Lee County Manager, Don Stilwell, the Service states it is, "pleased with the continued low mortality rates attributed to watercraft-related activities that have occurred in the Caloosahatchee River." The letter goes on to say, "Therefore we are removing the designation of ... AIP in the Caloosahatchee River effective May 13, 2003."

"This is an outrageous example of poor judgment and bad faith by the Service," said Patti Thompson, Director of Science and Conservation for Save the Manatee Club. "The Service based its AIP designation on 20 plus years of data showing an unacceptably high level of watercraft manatee mortality and then removes the designation because only one manatee has been killed by watercraft in the Caloosahatchee so far this year. In light of their own recent scientific information showing a 'dire' chance of recovery for the Southwest Florida manatee population and the fact that manatees are already in decline there, this leap of faith action clearly shows they are up to the same old tricks that landed them in court in the first place."

On May 5, 2003, the Service issued a Record of Decision announcing that it was withdrawing the November 2002 Proposed Rule to authorize the incidental take of Florida manatees because it could not write an Incidental Take rule that authorized the death, injury or harassment of manatees in Florida from human-related activities, based on a new manatee population model from the U.S. Geological Survey’s scientist, Michael C. Runge. The model states: "In the absence of any new management action, that is, if boat mortality rates continue to increase at the rates observed since 1992, the situation in the Atlantic and Southwest regions is dire, with no chance of meeting recovery criteria within the next 100 years." The conclusions of the model, as well as the Record of Decision statement from the Service, are in utter conflict with this recent declaration that the AIP in the Caloosahatchee is no longer necessary.

In announcing its Record of Decision on the incidental take issue, the Service stressed that, “... because there are no MMPA take regulations in place, there continues to be a ‘no take’ standard for manatees” and that the “Service is precluded from authorizing incidental take of manatees in the ESA consultation process for any project that would be reasonably certain to result in take of manatees.” Therefore, in making this declaration of removal of the AIP in the Caloosahatchee, the Service is signaling that it is taking neither the laws that protect manatees as both an endangered species and a marine mammal – nor the supporting science – seriously.

"In light of the Service’s explicit finding that federal agencies cannot, consistent with the ESA and MMPA, authorize watercraft access projects that will result in 'take' of manatees, as well as the new scientific data reflecting that the manatee’s prognosis is 'dire' in the Southwest region, the Service cannot go back to business as usual, without violating federal law. This action completely flies in the face of the grim outlook for the manatee’s future, which should dictate that rather than shirk their responsibilities, the Service should now be taking drastic measures to reduce human-induced manatee mortality and injury,” said Eric Glitzenstein of Meyer and Glitzenstein, a public interest law firm that represented Save the Manatee Club and its co-plaintiffs in their prior suit against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

See a copy of the USGS manatee population model in PDF format

More information on the Manatee Protection Lawsuits