It looks like federal regulators are rebuffing an effort to get the Florida manatee back on the endangered species list.
Several statewide environmental groups had petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reclassify the species, which is now listed as threatened. That came after more than 1,000 of the gentle sea cows perished in the Indian River Lagoon in 2021, after pollution killed sea grasses they need for food. More than 2,000 manatees have died since then.
Ragan Whitlock is an attorney with the one of the groups, the Center for Biological Diversity.
"When a species is downgraded, it simply gets put on the back burner, and relisting it as endangered could potentially result in more funding from our legislature, more attention from our federal agencies, and more efforts to make sure that they get put back on the path to recovery faster," Whitlock said.
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"The unusual mortality event has been slowing down. But it seems as though another mortality event could be looming in the future, and this is a huge rollback and potential regulations to stop that from happening."
The Fish and Wildlife Service notice says their numbers have not been reduced enough to considering upgrading their status.
"Protections in Florida’s coastal and inland waters will not change with the designation of the Florida manatee subspecies as a threatened species," the ruling said in part.
"Manatee protection areas (MPAs) have played a substantial role in manatee conservation and will we needed into the foreseeable future, and the designation of these areas will not be affected by the Florida manatee’s listing."
Manatees were originally listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act in 1973. The Fish and Wildlife Service announced its final rule downlisting the West Indian manatee from endangered to threatened in 2017.
In 2022, the petition to upgrade their status was filed by The Center for Biological Diversity, the Harvard Animal Law & Policy Clinic, Miami Waterkeeper, the Save the Manatee Club and Frank S. González García.
The service previously issued a 90-day finding indicating the petition presented substantial information that uplisting may be warranted. The agency found that seagrass losses from water pollution may pose a threat to the manatees such that they may again warrant protection as an endangered species.
Environmentalists said while the mortalities have eased, unchecked pollution — from wastewater treatment discharges, leaking septic systems, fertilizer runoff and other sources — continues to affect the lagoon.
The proposed rule does call for the Puerto Rico population of manatees to be listed as endangered. Current estimates suggest as few as 250 manatees currently live around the island. The population’s genetic diversity is also very low, which decreases their ability to adapt to changing conditions and rebound after unexpected mortality events such as hurricanes, boat strikes or disease.
"It’s great news that Antillean manatees in Puerto Rico finally won the endangered status they need to get on the road to recovery, but I’m disappointed the Fish and Wildlife Service didn’t give Florida manatees the same protection," Whitlock said. "It’s clear that the ongoing unusual mortality event is endangering Florida’s manatees, and the agency’s findings completely failed to analyze the impacts of this existential threat."
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