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Recommendations
The Governments need to take more aggressive steps to end
the invasion of alien species and we urge the following:
- Immediately make existing voluntary guidelines
for ballast water management practices mandatory
and provide for measures of enforcement and compliance
for all ships capable of carrying ballast water, including
those currently not carrying ballast water.
- Develop uniform protocols for performance testing
of ballast water:
- develop best practices and any improvements for
ballast management operations
-
establish by the end of 2003 enforceable
interim biological standards
- concurrently, establish biological standards for
ballast water discharges from all ships and for new
technologies for ballast water treatment.
-
Ensure all ships built after a certain date have a
treatment technology incorporated in their construction as
a condition for entry into the Great Lakes.
-
Design and implement economic incentives to
encourage shippers to continuously improve (ISO 14000)
Ballast Management Practices.
-
Fund research recommended by expert regional,
national and binational panels, task forces and
committees, especially focused on:
- research (including research for biological
standards, criteria and indicators) for ballast water
treatment necessary to drive technology, product
development, and ship design
- research to develop alternative technologies
including biocides to achieve new standards and criteria for
the elimination of Alien Invasive Species in ballast water
-
research and technology development to
reduce entrained and accumulated sediment in ship
ballast water and tanks, and
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research to develop analytical tools and procedures
to permit the identification of new invasive species and
to link these species to their possible points of origin
and vessels of introduction.
-
Issue the Commission a reference to coordinate and
harmonize binational efforts for action to stop
this ongoing threat to the economy and the biological
integrity of the Great Lakes.
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