Ballast Water Exchange:
Exploring the Feasibility of
Alternative Exchange Zones in
the North Atlantic
Judith Pederson
MIT Sea Grant College Program
Overview
• Background
• Special challenges for the region
• Scientific information
– what we think we understand
– what we know that we do not know
• Developed a joint consensus statement on ABWEZ in
the North Atlantic
• Current status
Background
• Canada and US – shared waters identified ballast water as an
issue
• Brought together Scientists – Managers – Industry- NGO
• What are the major ballast water management challenges in the
Northeast?
– Coastwise traffic
– Risk to coastal areas
• Coastal traffic focus
– Laurentian Channel
– Gulf of Maine
• Regional legislation not an option
Northeast region
Strait of Belle Isle
• Broad continental
shelf
Laurentian Channel
Gulf of Maine
Cape Hatteras
• area from Strait of
Bell Isle to Cape
Hatteras
• Georges Bank is
prime fishing area
• Didemnum sp. found
in Georges Bank
D. Townsend, 2003
The Northeast trade and ballast water
(data from Hines 2003 based on MARAD data July 1999 to June 2002 and NBIC
data)
• Foreign:domestic (coastwise) ~ 50% with more
foreign vessels arriving in NY and more domestic in
NE
• Ballast reporting ~ 35% of total
• Reported total metric tons discharged
– 102,400,000 domestic
– 303,800,000 foreign
• Canadian vessels return with ballast
B. Kelly 2003
• Which are the invasive species, what are the impacts?
• Ecological
• Economic
Photo: J. Baker
• Recreational
Species: Top to Bottom
Photo: A. Locke
Codium fragile ssp.
tomentosoides
Botrylloides violaceus
Styela clava
Photo: G. Lambert
Didemnum sp., a compound tunicate from the Pacific?
inhabits subtidal areas, docks, and Georges Bank gravel
beds that are prime scallop beds.
Photos: B. Toppin and USGS, P. Valentine
Shipping Federation map
of travel routes
USGS 2006
Of areas surveyed ~145km2;
60-80% coverage
Northeast ports (invasive species surveys 2000,2003,2004), forms 7/99-12/04 NBIC.
Tunicates include solitary and compound, crabs are green and Asian shore crabs, alga
includes Codium and others. Potential invaders are RI/LISS red alga (Grateloupia
turuturu), NYC isopod (Synidotea laevidorsalis) and CB whelk (Rapana venosa)
Port
BW
forms
Tunicate
Eastport, ME
10
X
Portland, ME
963
X
X
X
Portsmouth, NH
69
X
X
X
Gloucester, MA
54
X
X
X
Boston, MA
668
X
X
X
Quincy, MA
7
X
X
X
Sandwich, MA
15
X
X
X
Woods Hole, MA
3
X
X
X
New Bedford, MA
16
X
X
X
Newport, RI
10
X
X
X
Staten Island, NY
1
X
X
X
New York City
5041
X
X
Chesapeake
Crabs
Algae
Potential
X
X
X
X
Circulation in the north Atlantic
• Tidal impacts
• Freshwater inputs create buoyant surface
layers
• Cross-shelf dispersion
• Seasonal differences
• Cyclonic/anticyclonic
• North Atlantic Oscillations – Highs and Lows
• Physical oceanographers predictions are
based largely on passive particles (i.e.,
drifters)
• Modeling
Complex current
patterns
•Large scale circulation
patterns
•Warm core rings form
from Gulf Stream
•Tidal exchange from N
to S
Currents from B. Petrie 2003
D. Townsend 2003
Gulf of Maine
Cyclonic (GoM) and anticyclonic
circulation patterns (Georges
Bank)
Freshwater inputs
create buoyant
surface layers
D. Townsend
Georges Bank Drifter Trajectories
Drifters deployed at 10 and 40 m; 40 m more likely to reach shore
Winter – less likely to reach shore than summer
Faster currents at the shelf break (~1000 m) than on the slope
From Lozier and Gawarkiewicz 2001; J. Phys. Oceanogr.
Drifter deployments to measure across
shelf dispersion
• Block Island Sound Region
– Dec ’02. March ‘03
• NJ Shelf Region
– March ’03
Across-shelf wind driven
excursions ~30 km
~30km
O’Donnell, Ullman, Edwards & Allen (2002)
unpublished data
Satellite-tracked Drifters…
Bay of Fundy
NS
Gulf of Maine
Boston
Georges Bank
(from Pettigrew, unpubl.)
Estimated 35% chance of reaching
shore
Gulf of St. Lawrence showing back up zone for ballast water exchange.
68°
65°
62°
59°
51°
51°
Sept-Îles
Pointe-Noire
50°
Havre-St-Pierre
50°
Port-Cartier
Baie-Comeau
49°
Les Escoumins
48°
Rimouski
Chandler
Pointe-au-Pic
Bathurst
Newcastle
Prince Edward
Island
Summerside
46°
Newfoundland
Gulf of
St. Lawrence
Magdalen
Islands
47°
Pugwash
Pictou
65°
62°
48°
47°
46°
Breton
Island
St. George's Bay
Backup Exchange Zone
68°
Cabot
Strait
Souris
Charlottetown
Cape
Georgetown
0 - 200 m
> 200 m
49°
Stephenville
Gaspé Peninsula
Dalhousie
Chaleur Bay
Belledune
Cacouna
Corner Brook
Gaspé
Matane
59°
Transport
Canada
Distribution of
Phytoplankton in model
Distribution of
zooplankton in model
Simard 2003
Consensus statements
Three groups -Scientists, Managers, and
Shipping with NGOs in all groups
Consensus reached by all groups, influenced
largely by the science
Differences in recommendations from our
statements and those from DFO for GOM and
coastal discharge along Nova Scotia.
Shipping Federation 2003
Recommendation 1: discharge at 100 fathoms or 200 m from Cape
Hatteras to mid point on Georges Bank
Shipping Federation 2003
Interim ballast discharge
area – Transport Canada
Green indicates proposed ABWEZ
Map provided by P. Smith
Consensus statement on Alternate Ballast
Water Exchange Zones for Coastwise Traffic
•
Discharge at 100 fathoms/200m isobath (shelf break) from Cape
Hatteras to middle of Eastern Georges Bank
•
Discharge area outside Laurentian Channel at 100 fathoms or 200 m
isobath
•
Use Transport Canada temporary ABWEZ for area from mid Georges
Bank to Laurentian Channel (avoid Sable Island and Gully by 50 km or
more)
•
Discharge between 70o to 67o W in Gulf of Maine
•
Laurentian Channel was not recommended for coastal traffic and no
other recommendations were made;
•
No specific recommendations for the north from Working Group;
Canadian recommendation is using the 2000 m isobath
Fisheries and Oceans Canada ABWEZ
recommendations for the Scotian Shelf
Sable Island and Gully
Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s
recommendation for the Laurentian
Channel
•Under extraordinary circumstances, mid-ocean exchange
or the use of an approved ABWEZ by coastal traffic may
not be possible.
•Only under these extraordinary circumstances, we
recommend allowing ballast water exchange in the
Laurentian Channel under the following conditions:
•if the ship is transiting the Laurentian Channel
between December 1 and May 1; or
•if the ship is carrying freshwater ballast.
Future Directions
• Negotiate a policy agreement between the US and Canada for
Coastwise ABWEZ
•
Improve data collection on vessel traffic and ballast water exchange
•
Prepare a list of species of concern; i.e. areas to avoid
•
Continue with risk assessment approaches
– Only begun to address these issues
– Need quantitative data particularly on vertical and horizontal
distribution and movement of plankton
– Chose a risk assessment model to fit the approach (all ships; riskbased, etc.)
•
Incorporate adaptive management into review of decisions