The FWC must also develop population models or other such tools which will allow them to evaluate the effectiveness of existing and proposed regulatory measures and to determine the status toward achieving the biological goal. Such biological goal and evaluation models must be adopted prior to implementing additional regulatory measures pursuant to the settlement agreement. Florida's manatee protection programs, combined with federal endangered species status, have been a success, leading to substantial increases in manatee abundance. However, the irony is that the greater the success the greater the increase in the number of regulations being implemented. That is because the boating mortality issue is not being accurately evaluated in the context of the overall growing manatee population.
More manatees mean more collisions with watercraft.
The FWC must establish a measurable biological goal and develop means to determine whether the management and manatee protection measures are achieving that goal. Otherwise, as manatee populations continue to rise, public access to more and more of the coastline will continue to be prohibited or extremely restricted. Click here to see a map of the areas . Check back for further updates as the issue unfolds.