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Regulatory Brief
Federal Manatee Refuges
Contents:
- Summary
- The Issue
- Update
Summary
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was sued by a number of environmental organizations alleging
that USF&W had not taken adequate steps to ensure the protection of the West Indian Manatee,
a mammal native to the waters of Florida and protected by the Endangered Species Act. Prior to the
lawsuit, the State of Florida had promulgated the bulk of manatee protection regulations, and the Federal
government had only established a handful of manatee refuges.
After losing the lawsuit, USF&W proposed a number of new Federal manatee protection zones. Unfortunately,
whereas state zones do not regulate the speed of seaplanes, the Federal zones, as proposed, will.
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| Impact: |
Seaplane access to proposed Federal manatee protection zones on the Caloosahatchee, St. Johns, Halifax and Tomoka rivers.
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| Reference: |
SPA Comment Letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (PDF, 29KB)
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| Timeline: |
June 2, 2003 - Deadline for comments on the draft environmental assessment and proposed rule.
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| Comments: |
Direct comments to:
Field Supervisor
Jacksonville Field Office
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Attn: Proposed Manatee Refuges
6620 Southpoint Drive
Jacksonville, FL 32216
- or -
manatee@fws.gov
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The Issue
Florida's Manatee Protection Act, which establishes dozens of slow-speed zones for vessels,
specifically exempts seaplanes on the water from the definition of vessel, thus exempting
seaplanes from the speed restrictions imposed within state manatee protection zones.
The rules proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, however, do not exempt seaplanes
from the definition of watercraft or vessel, and thus seaplanes would likely be required to
comply with the speed restrictions imposed within the manatee refuges USF&W proposes to
establish.
Seaplane operations are not a threat to manatees because:
- Seaplanes do not have a propeller below the surface, and the water rudder is retracted prior to
high speed operations.
- Seaplanes do not spend significant time on the water, or travel significant distances on the water
at high speed.
- Seaplane operations are infrequent and statistically insignificant compared to motorboat operations.
- Seaplanes have not been implicated in the death or injury of any manatee, and no scientific study
has shown any link between seaplane operations and harm to manatees.
Update
The Fish & Wildlife Service accepted the arguments of local seaplane pilots and the
Seaplane Pilots Association, and granted an exemption to seaplanes on the Caloosahatchie River.
This was the only exemption granted, but it was also the only impacted location where seaplane
activity was known to occur.
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