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Home My WebLink About2002-09-26 and 10-24 Marine Mile 84 Association MinutesAN ANCHOR FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPTIIENT llAillLE 0{ MINUTES OCTOBER 24rH FoR s EPTEMBER 2ot', 2ooz president Bill Bigger called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. at the Hampton lnn. Minutes of the meeting were reviewed. Margaret gave a report on the Recreational Marine Employment Coalition activities ind noted the website for writing Congress on this longshore act issue is There was information handed out on the National Marina and Boatyard Conference Oct. 27-30h at the Radisson Bahia Mar,.Also on the Lighthouse Point i F"rnp"n" Beach Nautica! Flea Market Nov. 16-17th' There was discussion on the INS Visa Plan with information to go back to INS on issues of importance. Capt. Jim Watson, our speaker offered to broker a meeting with INS and a representative group from our industry on the issues. capt. watson, the Gapt. of the Port and the commanding officer of the Miami Maiine safety Office gave us an informative presentation regarding the Operation ,.on Guard,' program designed to help reporting of suspicious and possible terrorist activities at porb and marinas. There is a national response center established and locally there is heightened security especially on the water. He explained how multi iurisdictional agencies have come together in an attempt to be more effective than each agency operating on its own. By December many of the security rules will become permanent He indicaGd he is always interested in our association views and has an oPen door policy. President Bigger led a roundtable discussion on issues of inGrest along Marina Mile .The neit meeting was scheduled for October 24h with Kay Pearson talking about the boat show. The meeting was adjourned. Margaret Croxton, Secretary MARINA MILE 84, C/O MARGARET CROXTON ENTERPRISES, 1315 S, MIAMI ROAO #"F" FORT LAUDERDALE, FL 33316 9541 524-1200 c,RF N.9541524-1220 Recreational Marine Employment Coalition Wednesday, October 30, 2002 Riverside Hotel, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Riverside Hotel Board Room 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM AGENDA I Status of HR 481I A. CongressionalSponsors Committee Update Industry Impact Data Update Strategy for l08n Congress A. Reintroduction of legislation i. House ii. Senate B C II B C Building congressional support RMEA tour with key congressional staff Insurance Impacts - Ian Greenway Coalition Building Financial Support for RMEA ilL IV. u. vII Economic Survey Data - Kristina Hebert Next Meeting Manatees no longer endangered, agency Bf NEIL SANTANIELIO STAFI WRITER DesDite comPuter-generated nrediciions that Florida could iose half its manatee PoPulation in 45 vears, state wildlife offi- cials are recommending that the madne animals be classified as threatened instead of endan- sered - a step that could lead to -reductiors in their Protection' Their oreliminary review of the biololcal status of norida's iconic. waterway-roamlng sea cows savs what boaters have contend6d: The number of rran- atees has increased duringthe Dast 30 vean.' The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Conmission staff assessment that manatees should occuPY a lower rung of says State p ushes classification Sz q/;";-a .' /(:. ." z CONTINUED FROM PAGE IB I MANATEES modify them, but chose not to put its current manatee review on hold to do so. The status change won't weaken state regulations pro- tecting manatees and does not influence their federal endal- gered status, state officials said. what it u.ill trigger is a new manat€e management plan that will spell out future state commilrnents to protecl mana- tees to keep them "from going back up the list," said Elsa Hau- bold, a state marine researcher who oversaw t}le manatee sta- tus rwiew, Florida's Save the Manatee Club expects that boaters will use the change to lobby for re- laxing boating restrictions such as speed limits in manatee zones. Manatee Club lobbyist Pat- rick Rose said people need to "look at what the report says" about the manatees' potential future, notjust the label affixed to the species. ryhat's impor- tant is tlle state of the manatee population, how much at risk it is," Rose said Using computer models to make predictions, the Rorida Marine Research lnstitute pro- jected that population could plunge by 20 percent in 30 years and 50 percent in 45 years. That latter "would be a pretty quick decline," Haubold said. But the computer simula- tions factored in some dire cir- cumstance to reach that resutt. Some of the runs, ilbubold said. assumed the closing of oower olants and their warm water butflows, which helP manatees through cold sPells; destruction of seagrass beds where manatees feed"and out- breaks of catastroPhic events such as red tidethat can kill a large number of madatees at once. Alonq with rosy conditions, .1hgy p[1 i1 doomsday predic' nonrj.isaid led forsgren, exec- tive director of the Coastal Conservation Associatiln, the s11-wste1 fishiqg grouP the Pe- titioned the state in August 2001 remove rnanates' endan- sered ranking'" ps6spn's gouP did thal af- ter morl than 3,200 manatees were counted in 2001 in an ae- riat survew, the highest taIY ev- er. and a-fter anglers learned fisirine areas imPortant to them were it risk of being closed for manatee safery' But Eric Glitzenstein. anat- tomev for a coalition that sued rhe f;deral government over manatee p rotections, said FIor- ida's mot'e fits into a bigger Pic- ture of *federal government shiftins ar'rthority for manatee Drotectlon to the state. and the Itate in turn weakening Protec- tions. " extinction risk pleased boaters but drew criticism Aom environ- mental gmups battling for im- proved state and federal mana- tee protections. "We applaud it. We think it makes sense," said Jim IGlvin of the boating rights group Stand- ing Watch. "There's many more manatees than we think andthat's been the case for de- cades." Manatee advocates fear it will generate a public perception that the slow-swimming, sea- grass{hewing creatures are far- ing betterthan they really are, and that boaters could dron their guard and take less care tL aYoid hitting manatees. r AxlIttS cofitt{ufs 0t{ 2a The re-evaluation of the manatee population comes shortlv after Florida lost its 83rd ;anatee this year to a fa- tal boat injury, setting an all- time record for that type of manatee mortality. Boaters have argued that more manatees are couiding with boats because there are more of them cruising water- ways. The state report said that both scientific and anecdotal information indicates the man- atee populadon has increased in size sincethe l970s.It also noted that manatee population eourts are somewhat fickle and can vary based on numer- ous, uncontrollable factors - a big one being the weather on cenisus day. The proposed bump down to "threatened" is far from frnal. It will now be reviewed by a . panel of independent scientists and must ultimately win ap- proval from the conservation commission goveming board, which could decide in January whether to "do\arllist" the spe- cies. That action is proposed be- cause - under controversial state criteria adopted in 1999 -manatees no longer meet Rori- da's test for endangered. After hearing eharyes the criteria are too restrictive, the commission llErtthSloaybe Neil Santanieuo cant9 reached rtx nsantnniello @sun-serzdneLutm or 56 1' 243-6625- --,, -^'1D9r1<a^rrr I r l , TLTAOL oLL '\rr,'rvr -e Reviewl i,1r,, Upgrade r*' the lowly manatee L Manatee report stirs confusion l ) [,tAilATEt. FR0i,t 18 ',_.,1..i cmorgan@herald.com The matratee, lumbering and lovable poster mammal of environ- mental orotection, has rebounded enoushio be removed from Flori- da's endangered sPecies list, according to a state biological review released WednesdaY. The llorida Marine Research Institute made the recommenda- tion based on new estimates that the DoDulation of slow-moving, seasiasi-munching mammals has bee-n growiag for decades and won't go extinct for at least hall a cetrturv. But in a controversial draft reoort riddled with etrowh contra- diitions that a top itrstitute admin- istrator declared it "con-firsing," sci- entists also found the growing number ofboats ard the sbrinking amouqts of habitat added uP to "a protected Population declitre of at i"ait 50 pet"int over the next 45 vears."with manatees designated an enrlanqercd species under two fed- erat liws, rlgulators Predicted there would be no chalge iu exist- ing orotectioa$ such as slow-speed an"d no-entry zones that dot the c-oast statelride. TITNEECRITERIA ;, Under the new definlflon, adopted in 1999, a species'mtfit meet at least one of thesd tiabts to be designated endaugered - an 80 percent proiected decline in population over 45 years; less than 50 maturq'gri- mals total; and a 50 percent chance of extinction ln 50 Ye:rrs. ":!'' EnviroDmentalists, who ate chlallengi.ng the standards;,din- 'tend that Dot even the Flcvrlda Panther would qualify under such stringent standards.ri "lElsa Haubold, resduich administrator for the reseltch institute, said the ma{li8ee report did confirm "thingssre looking better over the lh3t rO years." Scientists found $w- ing populations in Northv/+t Florida and the St. |ohn's'@r but remained utrcertain aU6it the two largest areas rrtue Atlantic Coast aad Southwest Florida, where manatees at'€ believed in decline. : The recommendatiod:still faces a review by a pa;ii:t bf independent scientists and must be adopted by the shtes Fish and Wildlife Conserva- tion Commission, whldl is scheduled to consider it iii |dir-uary. L I BY CURTIS MOBGAN But reclassifying the geirtle giants from "eEdangered,,;lo the less severe "threatend,,could have considerable impact on public percebtitL and the politics cf mauatee protection. Boatiug groups immediately brandished the report iS'a potential weapon ilr theil6at- tle against restrictions advo- cated by the Save the Mtuatee Club and other eavironmcniatgroups. :i" "I don't thinl some df the things the club has been talli- ing about are even reallstic anymore under this new infor- mation," said Ted Forsigreri, executive director of' tlie Coasta.l Conservation Associ4- tiotr-Florida, a recreati.o$tl angling group that petitioned the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissiolt.tb review the manatee's stams. i- CRITICAL FINDNTC ... Forsgren said the singl-e critical finding was that ;o:atra-tee populations had rliiin growing, not shrinking,'ewr the last 25 years. i :.),. "It contradicts everytlildg ttre SaYe the Matratee Ctrib has Patti ThoDxpson, directof of science and couservatioti for the Maitland-based SaVe,the Matratee Club, dismissed the leport. "This is politics ivall- ing all over science," she said Thompson said the call to reclassify the ma.Datee sdrids a misleading message and flles in the face of mountingb5at deaths. This year's total,,B4 with more than two mbntks remaining, is already air dl- ti-Ee high. Boaters argue thatthe growing deaths merbli reflect a growing populatiori ofmrnatees. i She and other environft€ti- talists also argue the recom- mendation has little to do with science and everything to do with chaDges iD how the state defines "endangered,,' !.-