Chapter HI — Species of Special Concern 



is good reason for optimism that further reductions 

 will be possible in the future. 



In the long term, degradation and loss of habitat 

 may be a greater threat to manatee survival than direct 

 sources of human- related mortality. No other marine 

 mammal population in the United States lives in closer 

 association with human populations than the Florida 

 manatee. The rapid increase in Florida's human 

 population and accompanying development, however, 

 could leave little room for that association to persist. 

 Much of the new development in Florida has occurred 

 along coastal waters and rivers important to manatees. 

 Resulting siltation, nutrient enrichment, and other 

 forms of water pollution, as well as removal and 

 filling of wetlands by construction, degrade or elimi- 

 nate natural feeding, resting, mating, nursing, and 

 calving areas. If increases in human population, 

 coastal development, and waterborne activity continue 

 unabated, habitat modification and increased vessel 

 traffic could eliminate or nearly eliminate Florida 

 manatees from the wild. 



To address these threats the Department of the 

 Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service and National 

 Biological Service and the Florida Department of 

 Environmental Protection have collaborated to build 

 what has become a model cooperative endangered 

 species recovery program. While these agencies form 

 the core of the Florida manatee recovery program, 

 many other agencies and groups share interests and 

 responsibilities in manatee conservation, and much of 

 what the program has been able to accomplish is in 

 large measure due to their outstanding contributions. 



Among the notable Federal contributors have been 

 the Army Corps of Engineers, the Coast Guard, the 

 National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and 

 the U.S. Navy. Major contributors at the State and 

 local levels include the Florida Department of Com- 

 munity Affairs, the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish 

 Commission, the Florida Governor and Cabinet, the 

 Florida Inland Navigation District, the Manatee 

 Technical Advisory Council (an advisory body to the 

 Executive Director of the Florida Department of 

 Environmental Protection), the South Florida Water 

 Management District, various county governments 

 throughout Florida, and the Georgia Department of 

 Natural Resources. Important non-governmental 



participants include, among others, Florida Power & 

 Light Company, Lowry Park Zoo, Miami Seaquari- 

 um, Save the Manatee Club, Sea World, Inc., and the 

 general public, whose voluntary donations to the State 

 of Florida and Save the Manatee Club provide much 

 of the financial support for the state's manatee pro- 

 gram. As discussed in previous annual reports, the 

 Marine Mammal Commission played a major role in 

 organizing the Florida manatee recovery program in 

 the 1970s and has continued to provide advice and 

 assistance at key points throughout its development. 



Major activities undertaken through the Florida 

 manatee recovery program in 1995 are discussed 

 below. 



Updating the Florida Manatee Recovery Plan 



Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act contains 

 provisions for preparing recovery plans for species 

 listed as endangered or threatened under the Act. The 

 purpose of recovery plans is to identify and organize 

 priority recovery work. With advice and assistance 

 from the Marine Mammal Commission, the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service developed and in 1980 adopted a 

 recovery plan for West Indian manatees. It was the 

 first such plan for a listed marine mammal and it has 

 since served as a model for other species recovery 

 efforts. 



As the manatee plan was implemented and new 

 information was developed, the plan's provisions 

 became outdated and the Commission recommended 

 that it be revised. The Service agreed and in 1989 it 

 adopted a revised plan covering a five-year planning 

 period that ended in Fiscal Year 1994. Anticipating 

 the need for a second update, the Commission held a 

 comprehensive review of the manatee program at its 

 1992 annual meeting in Tallahassee, Florida. Based 

 on the results, the Commission developed a suggested 

 plan outline and sent it to the Service with a request 

 that it be reviewed by the Florida Manatee Recovery 

 Team — a team of agencies and group officials estab- 

 lished by the Service to help coordinate and guide the 

 manatee recovery program. The Service did so and 

 at the team's November 1992 meeting a drafting 

 subcommittee, chaired by a representative of the 

 Marine Mammal Commission, was established to 



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