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| Manatee entangled in crab trap rope and buoys. (Photo courtesty of FWC.) |
Please Help Protect Manatees
From Entanglement!
Attend August Workshops
or Send Your Comments
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has scheduled a series of public workshops during August to hear comments related to a possible closed harvest season for blue crabs. These closures, proposed by the Blue Crab Advisory Board, would allow FWC opportunities to collect lost and abandoned (derelict) traps from Florida’s coastal waters. The proposed plan would establish three regional blue crab harvest closures throughout the state for as many as ten days. Workshops will run from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. and are scheduled in the following areas in Florida:
- St. Augustine - August 25th
- Titusville - August 26th
- Apalachicola - August 27th
- Ft. Myers - August 27th
- Crystal River - August 28th
Get
more information, including specific workshop locations
The Issue:
Save the Manatee Club supports temporary closures that will allow for derelict trap collection, as such traps pose an entanglement hazard to manatees. Manatees become entangled in rope that connects traps to floating buoys at the water’s surface. Entanglement in rope alone may cause serious injury, but entanglements involving ropes still attached to crab traps can be particularly harmful. The weight of the trap causes more severe entanglement wounds, which may become infected and lead to flipper amputation or death if injured manatees are not sighted and rescued promptly. Such entanglements can also interfere with a manatee’s ability to swim and forage, which further compromises its health. Since 2000, 124 manatees have been rescued with various types of entanglement injuries, with 13 of those occurring in 2008 alone. Removing derelict traps will reduce this threat to manatees, while also improving navigation safety.
What You Can Do:
- Florida Residents: Please attend one of FWC’s workshops and speak out in support of this rule. Your comments can be as brief as stating your name, city of residence, and that “I support the rule.” You may also wish to say that you support this effort because derelict traps pose an entanglement threat to manatees.
If you cannot attend the workshops, or live out of state, we encourage you to submit written comments in support of the rule. Comments may be e-mailed to marine@myfwc.com, with the subject line “Blue Crab Comments – Attention Aaron Podey.” Written comments may also be sent to the following address:
Aaron Podey
FWC- Division of Marine Fisheries Management
2590 Executive Center Circle E, Suite 201
Tallahassee, FL 32301
- Please make a donation now to help us take whatever actions are necessary.
Thank you for speaking up to protect manatees!
Sincerely,
Dr. Katie Tripp
Director of Science and Conservation
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