All docks must follow manatee protection rules, U.S. judge says
Marine contractors argued that a federal act didn't apply to inland residential tieups.
By Associated Press
Published July 15, 2005
MIAMI - A judge has upheld the federal government's manatee protection rules, rejecting a challenge from marine contractors who say the policies make it too difficult to get dock permits.
U.S. District Judge James S. Moody, Jr. ruled that the Marine Mammal Protection Act does apply to residential docks built on Florida's inland waterways, despite an industry contention otherwise.
The Florida Marine Contractors Association plans to appeal, said executive director Steven Webster.
"We think we have ample grounds," Webster said Thursday. "We always knew from Day One that this was not something that would be decided quickly."
The industry group sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of the Interior in May 2003, saying Congress intended the Marine Mammal Protection Act to apply on the high seas, waters "located seaward of the territorial sea baseline" and maritime commercial centers.
The judge disagreed, ruling Wednesday from Tampa that the policy provisions "demonstrate a clear congressional intent to protect marine mammals from all man-made threats in the areas that make up their habitat ... without any limitation based on geography."
Several environmental groups, including the Save the Manatee Club, had joined the government in defending the act.
"This is a huge win for manatees and for all marine mammals that inhabit Florida's estuaries and river systems," said Patti Thompson, director of science and conservation for the Save the Manatee Club in Maitland.
The marine contractors had applied for permits to build recreational docks but were denied after the Wildlife Service concluded the docks would result in the "incidental taking" of manatees, which would have more than a "negligible impact" on the population of the endangered species.
Webster said the permitting process is unduly cumbersome and time consuming - often taking a year or more - causing many people choose to build docks illegally without permits.
"People find someone who will build one without it," Webster said. "The companies that try to do right are harmed."
He said marine contractors want a valid method of measuring manatee populations, a permitting system that can be understood and applied by regulators, builders and owners, and effective methods to mitigate harm to manatees.
