Florida manatees are missing out on nearly 1 million acres of critical habitat that could be helping protect the species, according to a notice sent Monday by conservation groups to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The notice accuses the federal agency of violating the Endangered Species Act, by being slow to finalize a rule it proposed more than two years ago. Once finalized, the proposed rule would more than double the area of critical habitat currently designated for the Florida manatee. It would also — for the first time — designate critical habitat for the Antillean manatee found near Puerto Rico.
RELATED: U.S. plan doubles the acres designated as critical habitat for manatees in Florida
Defining ‘critical habitat’
“Critical habitat” means the specific areas deemed essential for the conservation of a federally-protected species, like the Florida manatee.
The Florida manatee is one of two subspecies of the West Indian manatee. The other subspecies is the Antillean manatee.
Currently, the West Indian manatee is considered “threatened” under the ESA. Early last year, the federal government rejected environmentalists’ request to reclassify the species under the more serious “endangered” category.
RELATED: Manatees to keep 'threatened' tag
At the same time, FWS proposed a new approach: separating the West Indian manatee’s two subspecies and classifying them separately. In that scenario, the Florida manatee would be listed as threatened, and the Antillean manatee would be endangered, according to the agency.
That proposal still hasn’t been finalized. Neither have the agency’s proposed maps, which outline where critical habitat should be designated for both the Florida and Antillean manatee.
Right now, the Antillean manatee has no designated critical habitat. But finalizing the FWS’ proposed maps would establish nearly 80,000 acres for the subspecies.
It would also establish nearly 1 million new acres of critical habitat for the Florida manatee, more than doubling that subspecies’ current critical habitat designation.
Regulatory changes
A final designation of critical habitat for manatees is overdue by more than a year, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. Conservation groups argue it’s the latest in a series of delays by the federal government affecting protection for the beloved marine mammal.
Elizabeth Neville is director of environmental law and policy for Save the Manatee Club, a nonprofit based in Longwood.
“Manatees were one of the first species listed under the predecessor to the Endangered Species Act,” Neville said. That was back in 1967. “And, you know, a lot has changed in 50 years.”
If manatees are to thrive over the next 50 years, Neville said, the areas of critical habitat designated to protect them should reflect “more current science” and data about manatee populations and habitat use.
Another piece of the puzzle, Neville said, is a collection of “concerning regulatory changes” recently enacted by the Trump administration which substantially weaken some protections afforded by the Endangered Species Act.
RELATED: New rules from Trump administration will weaken Endangered Species Act
Earlier this year, the federal government announced three sets of changes affecting the ESA:
- A new definition of the word “harm,” which excludes harm to habitat for plant and animal species protected under the ESA
- Elimination of the ESA’s “blanket rule,” which automatically extends certain protections to species newly designated as threatened
- Requirement for federal agencies to consider economic and national security interests when designating critical habitat for a protected species. This also allows for areas to be excluded from critical habitat “if that exclusion will not cause the extinction of the species.”
This summer, Neville said she finds all three of the changes concerning. But she called the revised critical habitat designation process “flagrantly illegal,” saying: “It's going to put a weight on the scale in favor of economic interests over conservation.”
Preliminary data from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission show 517 manatees have died so far this year, as of Oct. 30. That’s slightly fewer than the 578 deaths recorded statewide by this time last year.
Neville said the biggest long-term threats facing manatees are habitat-based, like seagrass loss and development pressures on the warm-water refuges manatees depend on to survive the winter. To give manatees their best fighting chance, she said, the species’ critical habitat designations need to be brought into “the current century.”
