Plan, and develop a geographic information system for manatees. 

 On 15 November, the Service responded to the 10 October letter 

 noting that the Commission's recommendations would be taken into 

 consideration in allocating funding for recovery activities. 



Actions To Strengthen the State of Florida's Manatee Recovery 

 Efforts 



During 1989, it became increasingly apparent that vessel 

 traffic was making Florida waterways unsafe not only for manatees 

 but also for swimmers and boaters. Recent statistics indicated 

 that human injuries and mortalities by boats in Florida accounted 

 for more than 10 per cent of the nationwide total. Also, manatee 

 mortality in the first half of 1989 was far above the record high 

 pace set in 1988. To respond to this unacceptable situation, the 

 Florida Governor and Cabinet asked, in June 1989, that the 

 Florida Department of Natural Resources develop recommendations 

 to better protect manatees and their habitat and to make State 

 waterways safer. The Department was asked to submit its 

 recommendations no later than the Cabinet's 14 September 1989 

 meeting. 



Early in August 1989, the Florida Department of Natural 

 Resources released a draft report identifying proposed actions to 

 respond to the Governor and Cabinet's request ("Recommendations 

 to Improve Boating Safety and Manatee Protection for Florida 

 Waterways") . The draft report proposed an extensive set of 

 initiatives that would require both administrative and 

 legislative action to implement. To improve boating safety, the 

 draft report proposed, among other things, establishing a maximum 

 30 MPH speed limit in all marked channels, phasing in a mandatory 

 boating safety education program, and increasing enforcement 

 capabilities. 



With respect to manatee protection, the most stringent 

 proposals were focused on 12 counties where manatees are most 

 abundant and where boat-related manatee deaths have been most 

 common. In those counties, proposed actions included 

 establishing a 20 MPH speed limit in non-channel areas inhabited 

 by manatees, and limiting construction of new marinas to one boat 

 slip per 100 feet of shoreline pending adoption of more specific 

 measures in county manatee protection plans and marina facility 

 siting policies. 



The Department's draft report also proposed: designating 

 four new slow speed zones and two new no-entry areas in 

 particularly important manatee habitat; adopting an emergency 90- 

 day rule to limit boat speeds in the Banana River; accelerating 

 development of a computer-based geographic information system to 

 manage data on manatees and manatee habitat; authorizing 19 new 

 positions for the manatee protection program and increasing the 

 program budget to $1.5-$2 million per year; authorizing emergency 



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