The manatee could be moved from endangered species to only "threatened."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday they would review scientific evidence and reconsider the status of Florida manatees, even though manatees are believed to have suffered a record number of deaths this year, Reuters reported. The action occurred following a lawsuit from Save Crystal River Inc., which advocates for boater's rights in manatee-frequented Florida waters.
"The lawsuit was necessary because environmental policy has to be kept honest. Changing the manatee's status from endangered to threatened won't change the protections for the species. But not changing that status - when the science says it should be changed - will undermine the credibility of environmental oversight, and that's bad news for all species and all environmental concerns" stated PLF attorney Christina M. Martin who is based in PLF's Atlantic Center Office, Save Crystal Rivers Inc. reported.
The organization first petitioned for a reevaluation of the manatee's protection status in 2012, but this has not yet been acted on by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
"We want the government to acknowledge that it's improved," Christina Martin, an attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing the group, told Reuters. "A threatened species is still protected."
Manatee population numbers in Florida and Puerto Rico have met benchmark standards for reevaluation in recent years, but remain at less than 10,000 nesting pairs which is expected based on the 1997 federal wildlife recovery plan.
"The population is undeniably going backwards," Patrick Rose, an aquatic biologist and executive director for the Save the Manatee Club. "This is a really bad time because there is too much uncertainty, too much at risk, going forward."
The manatee is related to the African and Amazon species as well as the Australian dugong. It is considered to be a symbol of Florida.
