Tag Archives: commercial fishing’s role in manatee deaths
It never end’s. Analysis targets commercial fishing’s role in manatee deaths and injuries
How many manatees can commercial fishermen in Florida injure or kill every year without affecting the future of a species that has been on the endangered list since 1967? The answer, according to an analysis the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service unveiled Thursday, is 14. The only problem: The agency says the annual average number of deaths and injuries due to commercial fishing is 99. And that calculation doesn’t include the record 829 manatees overall that died in 2013. Bob Jones, who has been executive director of the Southeastern Fisheries Association for four decades, said he had not seen the report yet but “I don’t believe it.” In his view, commercial fisherman play a negligible role in the future of manatees. Read [email protected] 21:0
