Presented
by Jennifer Nalbone, Great
Lakes United
October 20, 2001 Montreal
Quebec
Good afternoon and thank
you for this opportunity to
speak. My name is Jennifer
Nalbone and I am the Habitat
and Biodiversity Coordinator
for Great Lakes United. I
am here to make recommendations
to the International Joint
Commission on behalf of Great
Lakes United on issues seriously
impacting the biodiversity
and integrity of the Great
Lakes – St. Lawrence
River. Specifically, I would
like to address the constant
influx of aquatic nuisance
species – or exotic
species—from the ballast
water of foreign ships.
The direction and approach
that the Great Lakes regulatory
agencies have taken to address
exotics has not been the immediate,
100% effective solution—which
is to prohibit foreign ships
from deballasting at any time
within the basin. As you know,
the Great Lakes regulatory
agencies have been working
for almost 10 years on policy,
treatments and technologies
that could be used to remove
or kill exotic species in
ballast water before discharge.
Great Lakes United has been
working within this context,
as the only environmental
representative on the federally
mandated Great Lakes Aquatic
Nuisance Species Panel, to
ensure that policy and technology
proves effective, environmentally
benign and progresses rapidly.
I would like to state to the
International Joint Commission
that we have that proven,
effective, environmentally
benign technology, and we
desperately need technology
onboard ships.
Currently, we have technology
(the combination of UV radiation
and filtration) that has proven
to be effective removing the
vast majority of organisms
from water in large scale
barge tests, and is being
validated onboard cruise ships.
This technology does not compromise
the chemical integrity of
a receiving water body due
to biocide treatment residual
or byproduct. This technology
must be tested and placed
onboard ships if we are going
to make critical progress
towards the goal of prevention
of new introductions into
the basin.
But what we are seriously
lacking—and what is
holding up the investment
of large amounts of money
from the private technology
industry and the commitment
of the shipping industry—is
a lack of a standard.
We were lacking a standard
2 years ago in Minneapolis
at the last IJC biennial—where
the need for a standard was
a primary recommendation from
the IJC sponsored workshop
on exotic species policy.
Today, there is still no standard.
The recommendation on behalf
of Great Lakes United to the
International Joint Commission
is that a ballast water treatment/discharge
standard be set that is at
least effective as the proven
UV/filtration technology and
no less environmentally benign
(and chemical free).
We have the benchmark, we
must move forward. Set the
standard to this benchmark.
Different technology will
come that exceeds the effectiveness
of this UV/filtration system,
and we must work to improve
our standard and improve our
ability to protect the integrity
of the Great Lakes –
St. Lawrence River. But today
we can and must more forward.
Set the standard to this benchmark:
at least as effective as the
proven UV/filtration technology
and no less environmentally
benign and chemical free.
I would also like to make
a comment on the status of
fish populations. Native Great
Lakes – St. Lawrence
River fish populations are
in flux—being negatively
impacted by exotics, the purposeful
stocking on non-native fish,
poor water quality, widespread
land use, resource extraction
on land and in the water,
intensive fishing, dredging,
pipeline trenching, and will
be significantly impacted
in the next few decades by
climate change.
Fish managers have a daunting
task in light of all these
threats. But managers must
improve efforts to protect,
maintain and rehabilitate
native fish populations in
the Great Lakes – St.
Lawrence River—the species
best suited to adapt to a
dramatically changing aquatic
ecosystem. I would like to
provide to the International
Joint Commission a scientific
proceedings (called Taking
Stock of our Future) on the
impacts of non-native fish
stocking on the biological
and genetic integrity of the
Lakes and recommend that fish
managers aggressively protect
and rehabilitate native fish
populations, and strive to
phase out the extensive stocking
on non-native fish in the
basin.
Please let me conclude by
saying that more and more
scientific, economic, community
and spiritual leaders are
alerting us that we are causing
massive environmental change
due to our societies inability
to harmoniously exist within
the environment. We must take
aggressive action now. Our
society only has two choices,
we can choose to fight this
environmental change—we
can try to force the Lakes
to produce a certain quantity
and species of fish or we
can try to force accessibility
to the lakes through extensive
dredging and channel modification.
We can try to force the environment
to meet our unsustainable
expectations, which will only
further accelerate environmental
decline. Or, we can choose
to take a new approach and
develop and manage sustainably,
responding to and living within
a changing environment. It
is gravely necessary that
we do the latter. And it is
never a better time to begin
than now.
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