New treaty fights invasive marine species.

• Author: Chafe, Zoe
• Position: Environmental Intelligence - The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships Ballast Water & Sediments - Brief Article

The UN's 50-year-old shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), has adopted a treaty aimed at combating the spread of invasive species by shipping vessels. The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships Ballast Water & Sediments, will guide efforts to prevent the spread of waterborne species through ships' ballast water.

When a ship unloads its cargo at a port, its hull must be filled with water to maintain the vessel's stability, both in port and at sea. On arrival at a destination port, the ship then discharges this "ballast water," often introducing thousands of foreign organisms into the port's waters. For example, the Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) evidently traveled this way from the Yellow Sea to northern Europe, England, and the U.S. West Coast, eroding levees, clotting...