The manatee recovery program is led by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida 

 Department of Environmental Protection and involves cooperative efforts by many other agencies 

 and groups. The Marine Mammal Commission assisted both the Service and the state in 

 developing their programs early in the 1980s. Since then it has continued to provide assistance 

 and advice to both. 



To reduce vessel-related manatee deaths, the Florida Department of Environmental 

 Protection and county governments began developing boat speed regulations for 13 key counties 

 in 1989. Although rulemaking has been slow, rules are now in place in 12 counties. Rule 

 challenges in 1998 continued to delay adoption of rules for the thirteenth county. With 

 regulatory signs now posted in most areas, efforts are needed to ensure compliance with the new 

 rules. In 1997 the Fish and Wildlife Service designated an enforcement coordinator and began 

 directed enforcement efforts in cooperation with local and state enforcement officers, and this 

 was continued in 1998. In 1998 the Coast Guard, in cooperation with the Service, also 

 increased its enforcement efforts. 



In the past two decades manatee numbers have increased around localized winter warm- 

 water refuges formed by power plant outfalls and namral springs in central Florida north of the 

 species' historic winter range. Up to 585 animals have been counted at one power plant during 

 a winter cold period. Such large concentrations increase the chance of a large-scale manatee die- 

 off due to red tides, pollution events, or exposure to cold if a power plant outfall were to shut 

 down. The latter concern has increased because of recent interest in deregulating Florida's 

 electric utilities, which could affect the operation of power plants on which many manatees have 

 come to depend. Early in 1998 the Service advised the Commission that it plaimed to hold a 

 public forum to help develop a long-term strategy for managing warm-water refuges. The 

 Commission provided advice on plaiming the forum and suggested that the Service consider the 

 possibility of developing a network of non-industry-dependent artificial refuges within the 

 population's current core winter range. In August the Service held an interagency meeting to 

 examine possible management strategies and information needs. Based on the results, it decided 

 to convene a workshop on warm- water refuges in the summer of 1999 rather than hold a public 

 forum in 1998. 



Marine Mammal-Fisheries Interactions (Chapter III) 



Marine mammals and fisheries interact in ways that can affect both adversely. Marine 

 mammals may become entangled in fishing gear and be killed or injured. Also, marine 

 mammals may compete with fishermen for the same fishery resources and, if entangled, may 

 damage gear or catch. 



The Marine Mammal Protection Act was amended in 1994 to establish a new regime for 

 governing the taking of marine maimnals incidental to commercial fishing operations. This 

 chapter discusses actions taken to implement that regime, including the preparation of assessment 

 reports for each marine mammal stock that occurs in U.S. waters, the annual listing of all U.S. 

 fisheries according to the frequency with which they take marine mammals, and the 



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