Marine advisory board backs refocusing draft letter on manatee protection for Stephenson Creek

The Marine Advisory Board on Jan. 28 agreed to ask the Stephenson Creek Advocacy Group to rewrite a proposed letter to the city council so it focuses on establishing a local Manatee Protection Zone and includes supporting data on manatee sightings and water-depth constraints.

Mike Foley, a longtime Stephenson Creek advocate, told the board his group’s preliminary counts showed "at the beginning of this month, it was over 200 per, a period of 9 months," and said the advocacy group has manatee habitat and navigation-safety reports on record. Foley and other speakers told the board that shallow channel depths and clearance under the nearby bridge create potential choke points for manatee movement.

Several board members and residents pressed for specific technical details to be appended to the letter — including high- and low-tide water depths under the bridge and expert measurements on the minimum depth required for manatee navigation — arguing that such facts would make a focused case for a protection zone. Daryl Lakey, a local boater, described practical constraints for boaters and said a speed- or no-wake designation would reduce vessel strikes.

Members disagreed about whether docks themselves would block manatee passage. Some speakers said pilings and floating docks would still allow animals to swim beneath or between structures; others said large fixed docks, lifts and the likely increase in powered boating could hinder movement and set a precedent for denser waterfront development.

Staff presented a feasibility study and said the recommended path is to seek a local ordinance creating a Manatee Protection Zone. Staff said the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) has been consulted and would review a draft package; the proposed zone discussed by staff would run between the first and third bridges, with slow-speed or minimum-wake rules beyond that point. Staff said they would prepare an ordinance and a letter of intent to submit to FWC and then seek city-council approval.

The board decided not to send the current draft as written. Mary Day was identified in the meeting as the author of the advocacy group’s draft; the board asked that she or the advocacy group produce a revised one-page letter that attaches or cites the manatee count and expert navigation-safety and habitat reports. Because the group cannot approve changes outside an open meeting, the chair said the board will either call a special meeting to vote or bring the revised letter to the next scheduled meeting in March for formal action.

The meeting closed with staff and advocates agreeing to concentrate on the Manatee Protection Zone as the priority step toward reducing vessel speed and protecting habitat, while acknowledging ongoing discussion about docks and long-term shoreline management.