Because many different Federal and State agencies have 

 responsibilities for implementing actions identified in its 

 report, the Commission also transmitted copies of the report 

 to various other Federal and State agencies, including the 

 Corps of Engineers, the Florida Department of Natural Resources, 

 the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, the Florida 

 Department of Environmental Regulation, and the Florida 

 Department of Community Affairs. In addition, at the end of 

 1988, the Commission was in the process of distributing its 

 report to the many other agencies, organizations, and groups 

 in the Federal, State, private, and industry sectors that are 

 involved in the manatee recovery program in order to further 

 develop a cooperative approach to implementing the needed 

 actions as guickly as possible. 



Manatees in Puerto Rico 



As noted in previous Annual Reports, the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service, in consultation with the Commission and other agencies 

 and organizations, developed a Recovery Plan for the manatee 

 population in Puerto Rico. Since its adoption in 1987, little 

 has been done to implement identified research and management 

 activities. To help start needed work in Puerto Rico, the 

 Commission contracted with the Puerto Rico Conservation 

 Foundation to conduct preliminary studies in support of long- 

 term conservation measures for West Indian manatees in Puerto 

 Rico. This is described in greater detail in Chapter XI. 



Conclusion 



Over the past several years, Federal, State, and private 

 agencies working together have established a framework to 

 bring about recovery of the manatee population in the southeast 

 United States. Despite this effort, however, issues critical 

 to the recovery of the species have not been resolved and the 

 plight of manatees in Florida continues to worsen. This does 

 not appear to be the result of misdirected or ill-conceived 

 recovery actions. Rather, it appears that recovery activities 

 initiated to date have not been of a scale sufficient to keep 

 pace with ever-increasing boat traffic and development affecting 

 manatees and essential manatee habitat. During 1987 and 

 1988, significant steps were taken by the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service, the Florida Department of Natural Resources, and the 

 Commission to identify those areas where manatee recovery 

 activities must be strengthened. In 1989, the Commission 

 will continue to assist cooperative efforts to implement a 

 significantly strengthened manatee recovery program. 



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