Multidimensional Approach to Invasive Species Prevention

Abstract

Nonindigenous species (NIS) cause global biotic homogenization and extinctions, with commercial shipping being a leading vector for spread of aquatic NIS. To reduce transport of NIS by ships, regulations requiring ballast water exchange (BWE) have been implemented by numerous countries. BWE appears to effectively reduce risk for freshwater ports, but provides only moderate protection of marine ports. In the near future, ships may be required to undertake ballast water treatment (BWT) to meet numeric performance standards, and BWE may be phased out of use. However, there are concerns that BWT systems may not operate reliably in fresh or turbid water, or both. Consequently, it has been proposed that BWE could be used in combination with BWT to maximize the positive benefits of both management strategies for protection of freshwater ports. We compared the biological efficacy of "BWE plus BWT" against "BWT alone" at a ballast water treatment experimental test facility. Our comparative evaluation showed that even though BWT alone significantly reduced abundances of all tested organism groups except total heterotrophic bacteria, the BWE plus BWT strategy significantly reduced abundances for all groups and furthermore resulted in significantly lower abundances of most groups when compared to BWT alone. Our study clearly demonstrates potential benefits of combining BWE with BWT to reduce invasion risk of freshwater organisms transported in ships' ballast water, and it should be of interest to policy makers and environmental managers.

Hybrid system increases efficiency of ballast water treatment

“…First, higher killing efficiency of chlorine may result from osmotic shock associated with BWE (Briski et al . ). Secondly, lower organic matter concentration of open ocean water relative to freshwater may better facilitate biocide action (Dychdala ).…”

“… and Briski et al . , ). Unlike patterns observed in vessels operating between freshwater ports (Bailey et al .…”

“…It also includes the promotion of new treatment methodologies for ballast water, which if combined with BWE could improve efficiency owing to synergistic or additive interactions between the two (Briski et al . ). Each IMO D‐2 standard considers the sum of viable organisms within that group, and aims to reduce propagule size to a threshold below which released NIS are unlikely to establish a viable population owing to demographic constraints.…”

Quantifying indicatively living phytoplankton cells in ballast water samples — recommendations for Port State Control

“…Many instruments and methods for the indicative and detailed ballast water sample analysis were evaluated in various studies (Schreiber et al, 1993;Veldhuis and Kraay, 2000;Shapiro, 2003;Buskey and Hyatt, 2006;Tang and Dobbs, 2007;Briski et al, 2011Briski et al, , 2013Cangelosi et al, 2011;Welschmeyer and Maurer, 2011;Gollasch and David, 2012;Gollasch et al, 2012aGollasch et al, ,b, 2013Zetsche and Meysman, 2012;Gollasch and Peperzak, 2013;Stehouwer et al, 2013;Drake et al, 2014;Wright et al, 2015). However, for the larger zooplankton and bacteria no reliable indicative sample analysis method was yet identified.…”

Innovation in product and services in the shipping retrofit industry: a case study of ballast water treatment systems

“…Ballast water exchange implies flushing the ballast water tanks and refilling them with saltwater in mid-ocean (i.e., more than 200 nautical miles from the shore). This water exchange reduces the number of viable fresh water organisms in the ballast tanks due to the salinity (Briski et al, 2013). Ballast water exchange is not always possible; the major constraints being geographical (i.e., some shipping routes do not operate in mid-ocean).…”