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National Ballast Water Information Clearinghouse

OverviewThe National Invasive Species Act of 1996 (NISA) directed the United States Coast Guard in conjunctionwith the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) to develop a clearinghouse for the synthesis,analysis, and interpretation of national data concerning ballast water management and ballast-mediated

invasions. As a result, the National Ballast Water Information Clearinghouse (hereafter Clearinghouse) wasestablished in 1997 at SERC.

NISA calls for a variety of measures to reduce the risk of exotic species invasions associated with release ofballast water by ships. Among these, NISA requests that all ships arriving to U.S. ports from outside theExclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) follow voluntary guidelines for open-ocean exchange of ballast tanks thatare to be discharged in U.S. waters. This management practice is intended to minimize the transfer ofnonindigenous species (see Box 1 for discussion of ballast water, ballast water management, and relevantlegislation).

A key element of this legislation is tracking the effectiveness of voluntary guidelines for ballast watermanagement. This assessment includes measuring: (a) the level of compliance with voluntary guidelines, (b)changes in the rate and patterns of ballast water delivery, and (c) reduction in the rate of ballast-mediatedinvasions. The Clearinghouse was created to provide synthesis and analysis of these measures on a nationalscale.

More generally, the Clearinghouse will function as a central source of information on ballast water andballast-mediated invasion to include:

Spatial and temporal patterns of ballast water delivery and management; Patterns and rates of marine and estuarine invasions; Directory of ongoing and past research on ballast water and ballast-mediated invasions; General information on a broad range of topics relevant to this issue.

Together, these elements will provide a valuable resource, which is now lacking for ballast watermanagement and ballast-mediated invasions. The Clearinghouse will produce reports on national patterns of

ballast water management and invasion, as well as databases, that are available via the Internet. This

approach is intended to provide access to a rich source of information for education, management, policy,and research.

National Ballast SurveyThe U.S. Coast Guard and the Clearinghouse are implementing a nationwide program, the National BallastSurvey (NABS), to measure ballast water management and delivery patterns for commercial vessels thatarrive to U.S. ports from outside of the EEZ (see Box 1). The National Ballast Survey is designed explicitlyto create a national database on ballast water that will allow us to:

Measure patterns of ballast water delivery and management (including especially exchange); Measure among-year changes in ballast water management by vessel type, geographic region, and

season; Assess the accuracy of data through use of multiple, independent data sources and direct water testing.

The data from NABS will be used to measure the rate of voluntary compliance with guidelines for open-ocean ballast exchange. We expect to estimate rates of ballast water exchange, both in terms of the frequencyof vessels that undergo exchange and the percentage of ballast water exchanged, for different vessel types(e.g., bulk carriers, oil tankers, container ships, etc.). Furthermore, we plan to test for differences in spaceand time for (1) the rate of exchange and (b) the amount of foreign ballast release.The design phase for NABS is now nearing completion, and various aspects of the program have already

been implemented. We expect this program to be fully implemented during 1999. The Clearinghouse isresponsible for management and analysis of the extensive data collected under this program, and is assistingU.S. Coast Guard in the development and implementation of data collection techniques.

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The National Ballast Survey will result in a comprehensive analysis and biennial report to the U.S. Congresson the status of ballast water delivery throughout the country. The first report and its underlying data will

provide a nationwide baseline on the current status of ballast delivery and management patterns, andsubsequent biennial reports will measure trends or changes in ballast water management. Although theClearinghouse will provide analyses and interpretation of patterns for ballast water management, policyrecommendations will be made by other groups outside the Clearinghouse.

Effectiveness of Ballast Water ExchangeAlthough the National Ballast Survey will provide a detailed assessment of compliance with NISAsvoluntary guidelines for ballast exchange, it is important to recognize this as only one measure ofeffectiveness. NABS is designed to measure the rate of implementation for this management strategy butdoes not measure the actual effect on reducing the rate of invasion. It is perhaps intuitive that reducing thesupply of organisms that arrive to our ports in ballast water (via ballast water exchange) will result in fewerinvasions overall, and there is a good deal of support for this logic. However, ballast water exchange is not100% efficient, as not all organisms are removed by exchange. Thus, the effectiveness of this managementstrategy depends upon both (a) the degree of implementation and (b) the relationship between supply andinvasion rates.

Measuring the pattern and rate of invasions is integral for evaluating the effectiveness of ballast water

exchange, or any other management strategy, to reduce invasions. For example, as the rate of ballast waterexchange increases over time (i.e., the supply of ballast-transferred organisms declines), its effectiveness isbest characterized by changes in the rate of invasion. Thus, it is of paramount importance to link measures ofpatterns of ballast water delivery to associated patterns of invasion.

The Clearinghouse strives to integrate patterns of ballast delivery and invasion. NABS develops a programfor assessment of ballast water delivery patterns in space and time. As a collaborative effort, theClearinghouse is actively developing a parallel program to measure rates of invasion nationwide.

Box 1. Ballast Water Introductions of Nonindigenous Species and PresentManagement Strategies.

Ballast water is carried by ships to provide stability and adjust a vessel's trim for optimal steering andpropulsion. The use of ballast water varies among vessel types, among port systems, and according tocargo and sea conditions. Ballast water often originates from ports and other coastal regions, which arerich in planktonic organisms. It is variously released at sea, along coastlines, and in port systems. As aresult, a diverse mix of organisms is transported and released around the world with the ballast water ofships.

Today, ballast water appears to be the most important vector for marine species transfer throughout theworld. The transfer of organisms in ballast water has resulted in the unintentional introduction of tensto hundreds of freshwater and marine species to the U.S. and elsewhere (Carlton and Geller 1993, NRC1995, Carlton and Cohen 1998). Furthermore, the rate of new invasions from ballast water hasincreased in recent years (e.g., Mills et al. 1993, Carlton and Cohen 1998).

Although the effects of many introductions remain unmeasured, it is clear that some invaders arehaving significant economic and ecological impacts as well as human-health consequences. Ballast-

mediated introductions such as the zebra mussel in the U.S. Great Lakes and toxic dinoflagellates inAustralia have had tremendous ecological and economic impacts.

Presently, ballast water exchange is the only effective management tool to reduce the risk of ballast-mediated invasion. Ballast water exchange involves replacing coastal water with open-ocean waterduring a voyage. This process reduces the density of coastal organisms in ballast tanks that may be ableto invade a recipient port, replacing them with oceanic organisms with a lower probability of survival innearshore waters.

Ballast water exchange is recommended as a voluntary measure by the International Maritime

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Organization (IMO). However, it is important to recognize two short-comings of this procedure. First,the ability to safely conduct ballast water exchange depends upon weather and sea surface conditions,and it is not always possible to perform an exchange. Second, there is still some residual density ofcoastal organisms in ballast tanks following exchange, so this process is only partly effective.

The Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-646) required thatall vessels entering Great Lakes Ports from beyond the EEZ undergo ballast exchange or some

comparably effective ballast treatment which conforms to discharge requirements of the Federal WaterPollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251). These requirements were extended to vessels arriving in portsof the upper Hudson River, north of the George Washington Bridge on November 4, 1992.

The National Invasive Species Act (NISA) of 1996 (P.L. 104-332) reauthorized and amended theNonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990. NISA issued mandatory ballastmanagement reporting and voluntary ballast exchange guidelines to all vessels that enter U.S. watersfrom outside the EEZ, with the exception military vessels, crude oil tankers that carry out coastwisetrade, and some passenger ships that are equipped with ballast treatment systems.

If compliance with the voluntary guidelines is low, NISA authorizes the use of mandatory guidelinesfor vessels arriving to selected regions or the entire country. The National Ballast Water InformationClearinghouse will provide data and analysis to estimate the national patterns of ballast watermanagement (see text). Policy decisions about the adequacy of voluntary guidelines and the acceptablerate of compliance will be based upon criteria and evaluation by a committee of the Aquatic NuisanceSpecies Task Force.