Duluth News Tribune:
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=62981
Seaway opened path for non-native species
John Myers
Duluth News Tribune - 03/23/2008
Spiny water fleas from Asia foul fishing lines on Lake Superior and inland lakes.
Thumbnail-sized mussels from eastern Europe cover parts of the lower St. Louis River bottom like carpeting.
Ruffe and goby from the Caspian Sea fill parts of the Twin Ports harbor.
What’s next?
Over the past 120 years at least 180 species have invaded the Great Lakes from afar. Some of them humans put here on purpose. Others swam here on their own through manufactured canals.
Scientists say almost half of those 180 species got here by hitchhiking in the ballast water of oceangoing ships. Since the St. Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959, that percentage is even higher — about 65 percent of the non-native species came in ballast.
This week marks the start of the 50th season of the St. Lawrence Seaway — the collection of canals, locks and dams that opened in 1959 allowing saltwater vessels from anywhere in the world to sail into the Great Lakes 2,300 miles to Duluth.
As the first saltwater freighter prepares to enter the lakes in coming weeks, members of several environmental, angling and conservation groups are doing anything but celebrating the landmark season.
Instead, they’re filing lawsuits against state and federal agencies demanding that the invasion of foreign species stop immediately. They’re pushing Congress toward the toughest ballast water control laws in history. And they’re demanding that states take action to stop new invasive species from arriving.
Costs outweigh benefits?
A coalition of 90 regional, state, local and national groups have called for the Seaway to shut down, at least until guarantees are in place that more ecological damage won’t be wrought by incoming ships. They cite a controversial 2005 study that showed the economic benefit of the Seaway was only about $55 million per year over other forms of transportation, while costs to fight invading species are 10 times that — $500 million and more.
A 2007 study showed that alternatives to brining saltwater ships into the Great Lakes — rail, trucks, barges and ships that don’t enter the ocean — are easily available at little or no extra cost.
Twenty years after zebra mussels were first found in Lake St. Claire, neither the U.S. nor the Canadian governments have done much to prevent invasive species from coming across the ocean, said Jennifer Nalbone of the environmental group Great Lakes United.
Dave Zentner of Duluth, a longtime conservation activist, said invasive species were allowed to build up for decades before the general public got informed and concerned enough to demand action. The spread of a fish-killing virus called VHS in recent years has pushed the issue to the front burner.
“We’ve had this procession of invading species for 50 years that, unless you owned a power company and had to pay to get zebra mussels off your water intake, it didn’t seem like anything was really wrong,’’ Zentner said. “Then VHS came in, and fish started washing up on shore, and people said enough is enough … Whether or not VHS came by ballast, it’s clear that we’re long past the time something has to be done.’’
The Seaway Port Authority of Duluth counters that while salties made up only 137 of 1,187 Twin Ports ship visits in 2006, about 12 percent, they account for more than 30 percent of total value moved through the port, including valuable grain shipments.
Terry Johnson Jr., administrator of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., said his organization has been working with carriers to establish a better bulwark against the introduction of new invasive species to the Great Lakes.
Starting this year, all saltwater ships, even those supposedly carrying no ballast water, will be asked to flush their ballast tanks before entering the St. Lawrence Seaway. Johnson said inspectors in Montreal are ramping up an inspection process to ensure compliance.
“What we know from science is that saltwater is a very effective biocide against invasives that live in fresh water,” Johnson said.
Jeff Gunderson, an invasive species expert for Minnesota Sea Grant, said there may be some sign that the flood of aquatic invasives has slowed. Maybe.
Gunderson said rules and voluntary efforts ordering saltwater ships to exchange their ballast water in the ocean may have helped slow the invasion.
“I think it’s making a difference. Is it the final answer? No. But it might help bridge the gap until we get there,’’ Gunderson said.
Gunderson and others note that more than half of Lake Superior’s non-native species came here by other means and that ending ballast water release won’t necessarily end invasions.
It remains unclear what long-term effect 180 new species will have on ecosystems already hard hit by chemical pollution, development, sewage spills and habitat loss. It’s unclear if the next species that arrives may be one too many for the ecosystem to handle.
Seaway supporters say they are supporting a single federal law toward ballast treatment but worry a potpourri of state and provincial regulations in reaction to VHS could hamstring shipping.
Adolph Ojard, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Authority, believes rules governing ballast water discharges should be established at the federal versus the state level, to avoid a confusing patchwork of inconsistent laws throughout the Seaway.
“We’ve been pressing very hard to get some resolution in Congress,” he said.
Zentner said it’s more than an environmental or conservation issue — that simple economics demand fast action. The value of clean water for recreational and commercial fishing, tourism, the environment and local residents far outweighs the value of Seaway shipping, he said.
“The studies have been done that show the economics of Seaway shipping do not equal the cost to mitigate their damage,’’ Zentner noted. “There’s no reason not to fix this problem now.’’
Staff Writer Peter Passi contributed to this story.
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Distributed without profit to ESA Great Lakes District members who have expressed an interest in receiving aquatic invasive species information for research and educational purposes.
