FLORIDA (28 Mar 2001) -- Florida state officials have charged American Pro Diving Center employee, Susan Crowley, with harassing manatees, an endangered marine mammal that has been reduced to a population of just 3,300. Crowley and the American Pro Diving Center vowed to fight the decision claiming that protecting manatees in Blue Waters will damage the local tourism industry. But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Citrus County Commission have talked of limiting access to the area to give the manatees more breathing room. "We might have a no-entry perhaps at Blue Waters," said R. Kipp Frohlich of the wildlife commission. Boat collisions killing manatees During the past 15 months, 394 manatees, over 12 percent of all remaining manatees, have died in Florida waters, many in collisions with boaters. Florida citizens and environmental groups want the killing stopped and have sued the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, alleging it had failed to protect manatees. The state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is considering a proposed settlement of a lawsuit that will likely impose new restrictions on boating in Tampa Bay, Citrus County and throughout the state. Under the proposed settlement, the state agency would consider imposing new speed zone rules in nine areas and would plan even tighter restrictions in eight other areas, including Blue Waters in Citrus County. Such areas would be declared "safe havens" for manatees and boat access might be limited or completely forbidden. | | Manatee and calf Although the list of areas to be protected fell short of what environmentalists originally demanded, the manatee advocates said they were satisfied with the proposed settlement as the bare minimum of what is needed to protect manatees. Florida voters want manatees protected Two-thirds of 600 Florida voters surveyed said they believed more should be done to protect manatees and 42 percent said a lot more should be done. Almost 60% want funding increased for enforcement of boater restrictions. Washington, D.C., polling firm Belden, Russonello & Stewart, conducted the survey. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK |
