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Utah Division of Wildlife Resources via AP
Quagga mussels cover a boat's propeller at Lake Mead, Nev. The invasive freshwater mussel first entered the U.S. through the Great Lakes.
Nonnative species like zebra mussels, which clog pipes and have caused billions of dollars in damage along Great Lakes shores, are the target of the first-ever federal rule on how many living organisms ships can discharge with their ballast water. A decade in the making, the rule is being published Friday, but environmentalists say it doesn't do enough to protect U.S. waters from the invaders.
Calling it a "starting point," activists said the Coast Guard rule needs to be strengthened, either by states or the Environmental Protection Agency.
A major concern is that the rule gives shipowners until 2019 to implement controls that prevent invasive species from being discharged when a ship releases ballast water.
"Getting treatment technology on board ships is a welcome step, but we're disappointed the Coast Guard is manning a slow boat toward a truly protective standard," Joel Brammeier, president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, said in a statement.
"The onus now rests with the EPA and states to shut the door on invasive species to protect our waters, jobs and way of life," added Marc Smith, a program manager with the National Wildlife Federation.
The rule sets limits for how many living organisms may be discharged.
Those limits, the Coast Guard said in a statement, "are supported by reports from the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board in 2011 as the most stringent that vessels can practicably implement and that the Coast Guard can enforce at this time."
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Well, I think that's little consolation to the BLACK PLAGUE victims don't you?
It's too damned late !!
We told people about this problem back in the 1970's and yet nobody did anything.
Now that it's finally too late and the problem is costing billions of dollars people finally woke up and said "Oh, maybe we should have done something". No chit sherlock.
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"US moves to curb invading species hitching rides on ships"
When I read the title I thought they were finally going to stop the invasion by illegal alien invaders.
Now, if they could only curb the swimmers.
Notice that the rabid environmentalists are never satisfied, even if companies go bankrupt, by stating their usual mantra "not good enough!"
The government was warned by the biologists back in the 1970's about this, and nobody did squat. So now it's going to cost more to try to contain the damage, and the damage is the billions. So goodness, I guess it depends on who's going bankrupt. And this is just the stupid zebra mussels. There is a beetle that came from China that is going to decimate the logging industry in the Northeast. More billions down the tube. There are severely poisonous species like the Giant Hogwort (yes, it does exist, and if I'm not spelling it correctly I'm sorry!), a plant that causes chemical burns on its victims. Some damn fools brought them into this country because they're "ornamental". And how about the pythons released by stupid pet owners who didn't know what they were getting into? These snakes are wiping out native species in Florida, attacking people's pets, and sooner or later there will be a human fatality.
I can agree with most of that except the snake part. I was a snake-handler for about 8 months (no not my preferred job, but I needed a paycheck) snakes are not the issue, it's the PEOPLE who are the issue. It's not that they were being "released by stupid pet owners" back in the 90's there was this big event in Florida maybe you heard of it, called Hurricane Andrew which decimated the Homestead area, many of those people had pet snakes that were displaced. Because of that many cobras, pythos and anacondas are floating around the Everglades, unfortunate yes, stupid owners? No, just like you can't blame the Japanese for using nuclear energy and a massive tsunami wrecks the infrastructure and causes a meltdown, blame Japan? No.....
Joe... I'm no environmental nut case, but all i can say is it's about f'ing time!!
Another "invasive" species, which has no native predator is the Maromated Stink Bug.. It was brought into this country from China and first showed up in Pennsylvania. It is spreading south VERY fast and north as it acclimates to the colder climate. It has NO purpose other than to eat and breed. And although only in this country for a few years, it is decimating orchards in PA, MD and VA.
Personally, I'd like to see the cargo ships with imported stuff coming this way sunk in the deep blue sea and have Americans make the products instead... it would eliminate a whole bunch or problems ecologically and economically at the same time!!
Well the EPA would not allow the former and they were one of the ones that helped drive the latter off shore.
Well, at one point I had over 200 rose bushes--rugosas, grandifloras, old English roses, and many others. And then the Japanese beetles hatched. They have no predators here save one bird no one likes to see--the seagull. Then you have the tigerfish, which was imported by Asians, and also some blasted fish working its way into the Great Lakes, whose name I cannot recall-- large "flying fish" that can kill you or knock you right out of the boat if they are big enough, also brought by Asians. And, of course, don't forget the carp, which was imported for "fertilizer" then abandoned. When you walk along certain sections of Lake Erie, you can see the zebra mussels packed in and around the pipes. Not many fish left in the Lake. And the house sparrow, imported from Europe maybe a century ago and infests every building, parking ramp and house. And Russian wild boars, which were brought from Russia, have interbred with our wild boars producing mammoth beasts close to a half ton that are decimating farm land and even gardens & lawns in their territory. The most notorious illegal importers are Asians though.
Why don't ships just hold their water till they get back in ocean waters. If it's $$$ as it usually is then chalk it up to the cost of doing business or stay out of American waterways and lakes
It's much too late to prevent any invasive species from any country
We just need to get used to the idea that intermixing will happen
Look at the Dandilions or Starlings that are everywhere!!!