Manatees Retain Endangered Status

Manatees remain on the state’s endangered species list, for now.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission decided on Wednesday to delay voting on removing the manatee from the list until it reviewed the species classification. The commission did not say when the review might be finished.

“Delisting the manatee has basically invoked concerns over the listing process,” the commission chairman, Rodney Barreto, said.

The commission had been considering whether to reclassify the manatee as threatened instead of endangered.

Manatees have been on the state’s endangered list since 1979. The 2007 census recorded 2,800 of them in Florida waters, up from 1,300 in the first survey, in 1991.

State experts say manatees no longer face imminent risk of extinction, the definition of an endangered species. Reclassifying them as threatened, or facing a high risk of extinction, is more appropriate, officials said.

Changing the state classification would not change the manatees’ protection, as they would retain federal endangered status. The state protections are largely based on creating slow-speed zones for boaters to protect the animals. The biggest threats are the loss of favored warm-water habitats and boat propellers.

The commission did approve a conservation plan that calls for statistically sound methods to estimate the manatee population and monitor trends. The plan also calls for developing ways to prevent manatee deaths because of habitat loss. That includes the potential loss of warm-water habitats around power plants, as well as springs.

Advocates for manatees said that they would have preferred a vote definitively not to move the manatee off the endangered list but that were happy with manatees’ remaining on the endangered list.

“This is probably the best outcome we could have had,” said Patrick Rose, executive director of the Save the Manatee Club.

Officials were to have voted on reclassification in September, but Gov. Charlie Crist requested a postponement to let new commissioners study the question.

Mr. Crist said of the commission’s vote, “Their action will keep the manatee on the endangered list and make sure that we continue to focus public attention on preserving this unique and important environmental treasure.”