Are Ballast Water Regulations Working?
by James T. Carlton While ballast water in ocean-going ships was first recognized as a means of transport of exotic species in 1900, it was not until the 1980s that specific concerns led to political interest in ballast water management. In Australia, Japanese dinoflagellates (tiny plankton) released from ballast led to toxic phytoplankton blooms and the closing of shellfish beds. In Canada and the United States, a series of aquatic invasions in the Great Lakes placed ballast water on a “top 10” list of environmental problems. The Eurasian zebra mussel was the sole motivational species, however, for U.S. Public Law 101-646, the “Nonindigenous Species Act” of 1990. Under this law, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) issued regulations in May 1993 that required vessels bound for the Great Lakes to exchange their water, if possible, on the high seas (in depths greater than 2,000 meters or 6,600 feet) to achieve a minimum salinity of 30 parts per thousand. This salinity is a “compromise” because v
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- Are Ballast Water Regulations Working?
