Abstract:The transfer of ballast by the international shipping industry has negatively impacted the environment. To design such a protocol for the area, the ballast water tanks of seven bulk cargo vessels entering a Jamaican port were sampled between January 28, 2010 and August 17, 2010. Vessels originated from five ports and used three main routes, some of which conducted ballast water exchange. Twenty-six preserved and 22 live replicate zooplankton samples were obtained. Abundance and richness were higher than at temperate ports. Exchange did not alter the biotic composition but reduced the abundance. Two of the live sample replicates, containing 31.67 and 16.75 viable individuals m -3 , were non-compliant with the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments. Approximately 12% of the species identified in the ballast water were present in the waters nearest the port in 1995 and 11% were present in the entire bay in 2005. The protocol designed from this study can be used to aid the establishment of a ballast water management system in the Caribbean or used as a foundation for the development of further protocols. Rev. Biol. Trop. 62 (Suppl. 3): 249-257. Epub 2014 September 01.Key words: ballast water, zooplankton, protocol, Jamaica.The transfer of ballast water allows a vessel to regulate its weight depending on how much cargo is being transported, in order to set the trim, list and overall stability of the vessel. However, such transfer by the international shipping industry has negatively impacted the health of humans, the environment as well as the economy of numerous countries worldwide as global markets encourage the global transfer of aquatic organism across natural barriers (Ruiz, Carlton, Grosholz & Hines, 1997). Monitoring of ballast water to be discharged in any particular country and the subsequent establishment of protocols will therefore be crucial to the future implementation of Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS) on a large scale. Currently, no protocol has been described for the sampling of ballast water in any Caribbean territory when most have rich biodiversity of flora and fauna, densely populated coastal towns and cities and economies that depend significantly on the ocean. A suitable protocol could be used to enforce compliance to standards from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as well as to enable the Caribbean territories to focus their resources on fewer vessels that are more likely to introduce alien, invasive species or 'Harmful Aquatic Organisms and Pathogens' (HAOP). Such a protocol has to be simple and economical so as to be implemented in as many territories as possible.Successful introduction and establishment of organisms by ballast water discharge in a new habitat is most likely to occur when such organisms are released alive and in high abundances (Hayes, 1998;Olenin, Gollasch, This situation is present amongst bulk cargo vessels which receive raw materials (dry bulk) at a particular port, and have a transfer...

Valuing Caribbean biodiversity for health and wealth requires knowledge of the bioresource so as to better appreciate the myriad of uses and services it provides. Increasing the knowledge base provides increasingly accurate valuation, which hopefully will lead to better management and sustainable use of this biodiversity. The Caribbean region comprises 229,540 km 2 of land (only 10% of which is still in original forest cover) and 2,754,000 km 2 of ocean. In the region there are about 13,000 identified plant species of which 205 genera and 6500 species are endemic. The marine area, with a maximum depth of 7686 m, includes the world's second largest barrier reef. It is estimated that the region has 25.6% marine endemic species. Multiple uses have been found for both terrestrial and marine organisms of the Caribbean. Mass extinctions have occurred for Peoples, associated traditional knowledge, terrestrial and marine biodiversity. Sea level rise and increasing temperature are global problems that threaten this area. All this information cannot be covered in one chapter so this review, based on a wide range of publications including our own research, is to raise awareness of these issues and the need to know more while suggesting solutions for discussion.