MBI profile - revisit our previously posted profile on Marine Biological Invaders or visit Alien Invaders - an article from the Ecology Action Centre's Magazine - Between the Issues.

View the archives from the Timed Discussion.

Meet our Virtual Panel
Key Questions
Fast Facts
The Suspects
Other Resources

Meet the Virtual Panel ...

Mike Balabam is a Senior Marine Inspector with Transport Canada, Marine Safety Branch - Atlantic Region and has been based in the regional office in Dartmouth since 1998. He is responsible for the pollution prevention
programs including compliance with Canadian ballast water guidelines. Before
this he spent over 20 years at sea, 12 years as master on commercial ships
trading all over the world. (Transport Canada Marine Safety Branch)
(further reading: ballast water pdf, vessel traffic pdf, briefing note pdf)

Lindsay Whitlow is currently finishing her Ph.D. in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan. Her involvement with this discussion is connected to her dissertation research which has taken place on the coast of Maine at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve. She has been studying the ecological impact of the invasive green crab on native soft-shell clam populations. By examining the short term effects of the crabs on clam behavior and growth, as well as historical patterns in clam populations, she hopes to provide useful information for restoring economically and ecologically important clam populations along the Northwest Atlantic coast.

Susan Day is a third year law student at Dalhousie. She has researched comparative ballast water policies of the U.S., Canada, and Australia as part of her course work. Prior to entering law school she completed a MSc in Wildlife Biology at Acadia University.

Andrea Locke is a research scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada in Moncton. She is studying invasions of several exotic species in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, including green crab and clubbed tunicate. As a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toronto a decade ago, she conducted the second ballast water study ever done in Canada, and remains active in this field as a member of the Atlantic Canada Ballast Water Committee.

1. Introduce yourself and your organization(s) to the listserver. Also outline your involvement with Marine Biological Invaders in the Bay of Fundy and/or elsewhere.
   
   
2. How would you define a bioinvader? How are they able to be so successful? Be specific. Give examples of the most significant bioinvaders in this area.
   
   
3. What are the priorities for management? Be specific. Give examples of good/bad management. When managing bioinvasions do we need to be able to predict a bioinvasions?
   
   
4. How do we better monitor bio-invasions and who bares the cost? What "response strategy" should be enacted when a biological invader is detected? How would you respond to an invasion similar to that of the mussel in Australia (see below for more details)? Do you agree with the methods used?
   
   
5. How would the vectors be ranked in importance? Vectors include ballast water, aquaculture, hull fouling, and recreational means. How do bio-invaders rank in importance in relation to other coastal issues (as compared to overfishing, eutrophication, habitat change/destruction)?
   
   
6. What level of awareness is there in general public on this issue? Should there be more? How could this be accomplished?

Fast Facts...

1. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (UICN) ranks biological invaders as the 2nd greatest threat to biodiversity after habitat destruction.
2. The primary method of marine bio-invader introduction is through ballast water in ships' hulls.
3. It is estimated over 4000 species of invertebrates, algae and fishes are transported in ballast tanks every day
4. The second main vector for introduction is through aquaculture.

The Suspects ...

Species now expanding their ranges in northeast US waters...

Grateloupia doryphora- Red Alga, believed native to Pacific, introduced to European waters by 1969; 1st found in 1996 in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, spreading but so far not found in other states' waters. Probably introduced by fouling. Apparently an aggressive competitor but effects are still being studied.

Bonamia ostreae- Protozoan European Oyster (Ostrea edulis) parasite, origin unknown, 1st found in 1991 in the Damariscotta River, spreading in Maine, probably mostly by oyster transfers, but its life history is unknown, so transport by currents or ballast water can't be ruled out.

Haplosporidium nelsoni- Protozoan Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) parasite, native to Northwest Pacific (native host C. gigas, Pacific Oyster), 1st found in 1991 in Delaware bay, now found from Maine (1996) to Florida, probably mostly by oyster transfers, but its life history is unknown, so transport by currents or ballast water can't be ruled out.

Perkinsus marinus- Protozoan Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) parasite, origin unknown, present by 1920 in Louisiana and by 1949 in Chesapeake Bay, spread northward by oyster transfers, reached Maine by 1996. Infective cells can be transported by currents or ballast water.

Anguillicola crassus- Eel Swimbladder Nematode, parasite, native to Northwest Pacific-Asia (Native host Anguilla japonica), spread to European A. anguilla in 1980s, and found in American Eels in Texas and South Carolina in 1995, and in 1997 in Chesapeake Bay and the Hudson River estuary. Early stages of this parasite infest copepods and can be spread by ballast water, later ones by natural or aquaculture movement of juvenile (yellow) eels. Severe effects on cultured eels, and detectable effects on wild eels.

Rapana venosa- Veined Rapa Whelk- , native to Northwest Pacific (Hong Kong-Vladivostok), introduced to Black Sea by 1946 and spread to Eastern Mediterranean by 1946; 1st found in 1998 in Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, spreading but so far not found in other states' waters. Probably introduced by ballast water. A predator on clams, mussels, and oysters.

Hemigrapsus sanguineus- Asian Shore Crab- , native to Northwest Pacific (Hong Kong-Vladivostok), discovered in New Jersey in 1987, now found from North Carolina to New Hampshire; Probably introduced by ballast water. Now the most abundant shore crab from New Jersey to Cape Cod, apparently competing with native crabs and affecting recruitment of intertidal biota.

Botrylloides violaceus- a colonial tunicate- , native to Northwest Pacific, probably introduced in 1970s (misidentified as B. diegensis or B. leachii), now found from Long Island Sound to Maine; probably introduced by fouling. Now an abundant fouling organism.

(Paul Fofonoff, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, P.O. Box 28 Edgewater MD 21037, fofonoff@serc.si.edu)

Zebra mussels in Australia???

In 1999, Australia discovered a South American relative of the zebra mussel growing in profusion in the waters around some marinas in Darwin.

What did they do???

The australian government doused these marinas with chlorine and copper killing every living thing! We may think this was drastic but the mussel has disappeared...