SARASOTA – Congressman Vern Buchanan stopped by Mote Marine Laboratory Tuesday to discuss the ‘Manatee Protection Act.’
“The Manatee is under attack in the state of Florida,” said U.S. Rep, Vern Buchanan.
The manatee population is rapidly declining across the U.S., as nearly 15% of the West Indian manatee population has been lost in 2021 alone.
“Close to a thousand deaths, it’ll be over a thousand deaths this year, last year was 500 so it’s a big, big issue,” said Buchanan.
The Manatee Protection Act would officially upgrade the West Indian manatee from “threatened” to “endangered” under the endangered species act.
“This would require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife to refocus its attention on Manatees and population and would allow for an increase in federal resources in terms of funding and personnel,” said Buchanan.
According to Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC), 957 manatees have died since the beginning of the year. The loss of sea grass has led to the starvation of many manatees.
“We get ahead of the curve with restoration of sea grasses and addressing some of the root causes of why sea grasses are declining,” said Mote Marine President and CEO, Michael Crosby.
Dr. Crosby says focusing on the restoration sea grasses would be a good place to start.
“It all comes back to water quality, if you don’t have good water quality those sea grasses are not going to be able to survive so they go hand and glove, both of these issues, very very important,” said Crosby.
“Manatees are a huge, huge, piece of what makes Florida’s coastal environment such a special place.”
