March 1, 2005
Because of a lapse in planning 15 years ago, the endangered Florida manatee is at the crux of a debate on where the city can expand its boating facilities – if at all.
The Triton invited two experts to our Connection seminar in February to discuss the current manatee protection plan, the draft boat facility siting plan, and what they mean to Ft. Lauderdale’s yachting industry.
invited two experts to our Connection seminar in February to discuss the current manatee protection plan, the draft boat facility siting plan, and what they mean to Ft. Lauderdale’s yachting industry.Basically, 15 years ago, then-Gov. Bob Martinez required 13 coastal counties in Florida to create a manatee protection plan. The plans were to have three parts: safety (which resulted in speed zones), education (which resulted in a public awareness campaign) and controlled boating growth (which was supposed to identify where new and expanded slips, marinas and boatyards would go).
Ft. Lauderdale’s Broward County is one of three counties that never finished the third part of the plan. But because there were no repercussions, officials didn’t worry about it.
In the summer of 2003, the state began sending letters that said until Broward completes its plan, it cannot develop more density than one boat for each 100 feet of shoreline, according to Eric Myers, director of the biological resources division of Broward County’s Department of Environmental Protection. Plans are due in 2006.
A preliminary draft of the plan allows boating facility development in two places: one in the north end of the Intracoastal Waterway in the Hillsboro Inlet, the other along the Middle River beyond a bridge fixed at six feet.
"That amounts to a marina and boatyard moratorium," said Frank Herhold, executive director of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida.
He told the group that, on average, watercraft have killed fewer than two manatees a year for the past 30 years.
"The last manatee death we had from a boat in the Dania Cut-off Canal was in 1975," he said.
Still, the county is stuck with the task of identifying where boating facility expansions should go.
"We’re starting from the assumption that there’s a conflict between manatees and boats," Myers said. "The power plan in Port Everglades with its hot water discharge attracts hundreds of manatees. They’ve got a pretty predictable path. The question now is, what do we do about it?"
Most of the solutions the audience suggested had already been considered and discarded.
"Can we solve this by putting more cops on the water instead of limiting the number of boat slips?" asked one Connection attendee.
"The law says you have to look at limiting boat slips," Myers replied.
"Are people abiding by the speed limits?" another asked.
Myers couldn’t answer that as compliance data has not been compiled. It is due later this year.
Herhold asked if megayachts would post a manatee watch on deck as they enter and traverse Port Everglades.
"More often than not, you’re short-handed and the crew is getting lines and fenders ready," one captain said.
"Are there any studies that show megayachts kill manatees?" one attendee asked.
"No," Myers said.
So why limit megayacht dockage?
"The data for watercraft death sort of lumps everything together," Myers said. "If the animal has been crushed or severed in half, it’s a pretty good guess that it’s been hit by a large vessel."
Can we cool the water coming out of the power plant instead of attracting them with warm water?
"People are looking into that," he said.
"Most people in this industry are conservationists," one industry professional said. "No one goes out on purpose to hurt any ecology. It seems really ridiculous to endanger an
$8.8 billion industry for one manatee death a year."
According to data compiled by the MIASF, the boating industry in Broward is valued at $8.8 billion. Much of that value comes from megayachts.
"I’ve got my marching orders to go create a plan," Myers said. "We’re between a rock and a hard place."
Perhaps the biggest problem several in the audience had with the plan is that it’s not been proven that it will work. There has been no data to show limiting boat slips has had an impact on manatee mortality, Myers said.
"I’m concerned that the marine industry could be hurt when there’s no real data that the protection plan is protecting anything," said Capt. John Terrill, who sits on Ft. Lauderdale’s Marine Advisory Committee. "That’s your challenge," he said to Myers, "that the manatee will be protected by the plan you’re proposing."
Contact Editor Lucy Chabot Reed at lucy@the-triton.com.
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