manatees appear to be declining throughout the species' range 

 and are becoming increasingly scattered into small, isolated 

 pockets of animals. While subsistence hunting has posed the 

 greatest threat to these other populations in the past, it 

 now appears that incidental take in gill net fisheries is the 

 greatest threat outside Florida. Virtually all nations within 

 the species' range now prohibit the taking of manatees, but 

 enforcement is not adequate. 



Service representatives noted that Sirenia Project staff 

 are responding to increasing numbers of requests for information 

 and technical assistance from nations throughout the Caribbean. 

 In view of this growing interest in manatee protection, it 

 was generally agreed that further effort should be devoted to 

 developing an international conservation program for manatees 

 through the Cartagena Convention (see Chapter V) . 



Habitat Protection 



As indicated above, the long-term survival and recovery 

 of manatees in Florida will depend on how successfully essential 

 habitat is protected. Given increasing numbers of boating 

 facilities and other types of shoreline development which render 

 remaining habitat less suitable and less safe for manatees, the 

 species probably cannot survive without a strategically inte- 

 grated network of protected areas which contain all essential 

 habitat components. Habitat protection and land acquisition 

 are identified as being of the highest priority in the West 

 Indian Manatee Recovery Plan, and if anything, these matters 

 have assumed even greater importance in the intervening years. 

 The Commission has worked closely with both the Florida Depart- 

 ment of Natural Resources, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and 

 other groups to encourage appropriate actions in these areas. 



In 1979, the Florida Legislature created a State Conser- 

 vation and Recreation Lands Program and Trust Fund to acquire 

 lands that are environmentally sensitive or suitable for public 

 recreation. The Program and Trust Fund are administered by 

 the State Lands Selection Committee and the Florida Governor 

 and Cabinet. Since the Program's inception, more than 100,000 

 acres of land have been acquired throughout the State, including 

 certain areas along the Crystal River and elsewhere important 

 to manatees. 



In May 1987, the Commission learned that a group of local 

 land owners in the Crystal River area was interested in selling 

 about 13,000 acres of undeveloped wetland and upland between 

 the Crystal and Homosassa Rivers at below-market value for 

 purposes of wildlife protection. The area contains a signifi- 

 cant portion of the habitat known to be important to the Crystal 

 River manatee population. The Commission also learned that 

 the land owners planned to request that the lands be added to 



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