Progress report for
Protecting the environment from harmful aquatic invasive species and pathogens introduced via ships ballast water or on ships hulls
Achievement at a glance
Deliverable 1: The IMarESTs Biofouling Management Expert Group (BMEG) and Technical Leadership Board (TLB) has outlined their plan for the creation of the position paper. The BMEG is currently consulting IMarEST members, to identify alien marine biofouling species that are understood to have had significant impacts on a receiving environment. Once this consultation has been completed it will use the responses to draw up a list a comprehensive list of species to review. This list will steer a concerted effort to collate all published evidence of environmental, economic and social impacts from the introductions of the invasive species identified. The final step will involve a consideration as to the appropriate species-specific management measures for high impact invasive species and the scope for management strategies based on their method of introduction and species-specific characteristics. Deliverable 2: The IMarESTs Biofouling Management Expert Group (BMEG) and Technical Leadership Board (TLB) has outlined their plan for implementing the study on existing regulations on in-water cleaning. The BMEG will create an open source global index of current and pending regulations governing in-water hill cleaning of ships, together with contact details for each port or anchorage. This will be created by working with industry and is currently in the early stages of collating current and pending guidance, rules and regulations. Once this has been fully collated, it will be published via the IMarEST in a concise and easy to access booklet (and digital version).Challenges faced in implementation
Deliverable 3: The IMarESTs Ballast Water Expert Group (BWEG) and Technical Leadership Board (TLB) have produced a series of documents to support the Ballast Water Management (BWM) convention. The IMarEST submitted a document, produced by its BWEG and TLB to the IMO outlining proposed amendments to the draft Guidance on System Design Limitations (SDL) of ballast water management systems and their monitoring. This was considered at the Marine Environment Protection Committee, at its seventy-third session (MEPC 73) and the majority of proposed changes were accepted. The IMarEST submitted a document produced by its BWEG and TLB to the IMO outlining proposed elements of the Guidance on Contingency Measures under the BWM Convention that should be included in ballast water management plans (BWMP). The paper was introduced and discussed by the Ballast Water Working Group MEPC 73 and it was agreed to have contingency measures added to the G4 guidelines.Beneficiaries
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