Florida Manatee Status Controversy
IUCN Gives Endangered Status; USFWS & Florida FWCC Want Downlisting
Nov 28, 2007
In 2007, the IUCN changed the status of the Florida manatee from Vulnerable to Endangered. Meanwhile, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) are attempting to downlist the species from Endangered to Threatened despite the fact that not one of their own recovery criteria for the species has been met.
The Dangers to Manatees
The IUCN, an organization which utilizes the knowledge and skills of thousands of international scientists to determine the conservation status of plants and animals worldwide, feels that the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) population is likely to continue to fall. An adult population of less than 2500 animals is not considered sufficient to maintain the species in the face of present threats. Declines are expected to reach at least 20% in the next 40 years.
The FFWCC’s own study found that 50% of the state’s manatees could be lost in the next 45 years. A significant downward trend started in 2006 when a record 417 manatees died, largely due to boat collisions. With boat numbers increasing every year in Florida, this trend is unlikely to improve.
Several coastal power plants, whose discharge of warm water provides refuge for manatees in winter, are being considered for decommissioning, reducing the number of places manatees can go in severe winters.
Downlisting the manatee would make it easier to increase development along Florida’s waterfront, causing manatee habitat to be lost. It would also allow easing of restrictions on boat access to critical manatee habitat and increased speed limits in those areas. Manatee Go Slow areas, long a benchmark for protection of this slow moving herbivore, could be eliminated.
No Recovery Criteria Met
Coming on the heels of the move to gut the United States’ own Endangered Species Act, the country is once again looking pretty callous about wildlife conservation issues. Although other downlistings, such as that of the grey wolf, have caused concern, this is the first time that a species for which none of the recovery criteria has been met is being proposed for this change.
There is no law requiring the state and federal agencies to meet their own recovery criteria. In the case of the endangered Florida manatee, studies and background information about the state of the species have been set aside and a computer model is being used by the Fish and Wildlife Service as the justification for downlisting.
The definition of endangered, as written by the FFWCC, is very different from that of the IUCN. For a species to be considered endangered in Florida it must be in imminent danger of extinction. This is a very dangerous level for long-lived and slow reproducing species like the manatee to reach, as recovery is much less likely once the population is that low.
Potential Consequences for All US Endangered Species
Several other species, including white-tailed prairie dogs have been negatively affected by the present administration’s anti-environment attitude. But this time, the stakes are even higher. If recovery plans can be ignored and endangered species delisting decisions made based on a computer model that shows something dramatically different from the data based studies by acknowledged species specialists, the biodiversity of the United States is in grave danger.
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