Released: April 19, 2001

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC) agreed to a settlement in the lawsuit that Save the Manatee Club and 17 other environmental, animal welfare, and public interest organizations filed in January 2000.

The settlement agreement has the potential to greatly enhance manatee protection in Brevard County (the deadliest county in Florida for manatees) as well as many other areas in the state that presently have no regulations in place. Eight areas are to be reviewed for the adoption of slow speed zones and 14 water bodies will be reviewed for manatee safe havens. (Please note: only a portion within these water bodies will be designated as safe havens. The majority of these safe havens will prohibit motorboats while still allowing for boaters and anglers to have limited entry.)

This settlement is a major milestone in manatee protection! The settlement agreement includes an amended boat speed zone rule for Brevard County that increases manatee protection. Presently, existing regulations in Brevard are insufficient to protect manatees, resulting in a continuing, high number of manatees killed by boats. (Please see the Brevard Take Action alert for what you can do.)

Although the settlement is cause for celebration, our real work is only beginning. Proposed rules for boat speed zones and safe havens, by state law, are subject to public review. That is an important part of the process and one that we support. However, organized boating and fishing groups and marine industry representatives will also have an opportunity to loudly oppose additional manatee protection measures and we must continue to have our voices heard during this process in support of strong rules to slow boats down and provide for safe havens throughout Florida for the long term survival of manatees.

We want to thank the following individuals and organizations without whom this settlement would not have been possible:

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissioners for voting on April 19th to accept the terms of the settlement agreement. Governor Jeb Bush and his chief aide, Colleen Castille, for their support. The Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund and their attorneys David Guest, Ainsley Samson, and Coby Dolan, who represented plaintiffs in this case. The other plaintiffs and their members and staff. They are: The Humane Society of the United States, Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club, Animal Welfare Institute, The International Wildlife Coalition, United States Public Interest Research Group, Florida Public Interest Research Group, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Florida Wildlife Federation, the Florida Audubon Society, Audubon Society of Southwest Florida, Pegasus Foundation, Biscayne Bay Foundation, Responsible Growth Management Coalition, Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida, Citizens Association of Bonita Beach, and Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society. We also want to thank the Wildlife Advocacy Project, Save the Manatee Club’s Board of Directors and staff and Eric Glitzenstein, Esquire. Last, but certainly not least, we wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to all the Save the Manatee Club members who worked so hard to advocate on behalf of manatees. Stay tuned!