Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News
The Newsletter of the Great Lakes
Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund
Volume 13, Number 2 • Early Spring 2005
Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat NewsThe Newsletter of the Great Lakes
|
|
By Chris Grubb
The United States Coast Guard is finally taking steps to address its flawed enforcement of the National Invasive Species Act – an oversight that has contributed to invasive species introductions to the Great Lakes at an average rate of one every eight months. The Coast Guard’s Great Lakes program, initiated in 1993 following the arrival of zebra mussels, requires any ocean-going vessels equipped with ballast tanks entering the Great Lakes to exchange the tank contents in the open ocean, employ an approved alternative to treat hitchhiking organisms, or retain ballast contents and seal its tanks.
So what’s the problem? For the past 12 shipping seasons, the Coast Guard has exempted ships declaring “no ballast on board” (or NOBOB) from its regulations. But scientists have known for years that NOBOBs do carry invaders in their residual water and sediment. Because more than 80 percent of oceangoing ships that enter the Great Lakes through the St. Lawrence Seaway are NOBOBs, Jen Nalbone of Great Lakes United has correctly described this loophole as being “big enough to drive a cargo ship through.”
In the January 7th Federal Register, the Coast Guard acknowledged this loophole in its 12-year-old ballast water program to protect the Great Lakes, and announced it needs to develop a comprehensive program to address vessels classified as “no ballast on board”. The Coast Guard is collecting public comments and will hold a public hearing on “no ballast on board” management strategies on May 9 in Cleveland, Ohio. Vocalizing your concern for the Great Lakes is needed, regardless of your expertise on the complicated issues of invasive species and international shipping. Have you been impacted by an aquatic invasive species that came from an ocean-going ship (like the zebra mussel, quagga mussel, round goby, Eurasian ruffe or spiny water flea?) Do you want to stress the importance of quick action to close the NOBOB loophole for the 2005 shipping season? Do you have specific recommendations on the best way to stop new aquatic invaders from entering the Great Lakes from ocean-going ships? Let the Coast Guard know!
If you would like more information about submitting public comments or attending the May 9 meeting in Cleveland, contact Jen Nalbone (jen@glu.org or 716-213-0408).
As Joel Brammeier described in the last issue of GLAHNews, the work of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration (GLRC) is underway. Along with federal agencies, the Great Lakes governors and mayors, local communities,Native American tribes, and regional bodies, many Great Lakes based environmental groups are actively engaged in the process. The GLRC is charged with designing a strategy to restore and protect the Great Lakes now and into the future.
Much of the work of the GLRC is being accomplished in eight Issue Area Strategy Teams which are focused on issues such as habitat, nonpoint sources of pollution, invasive species, Areas of Concern, and others. Different Strategy Teams are taking different approaches to their task, but all will be required to submit a 5-10 page document that outlines problems and recommendations specific to their issue area. These documents will be compiled by an Executive Committee that will release a comprehensive draft document in July, 2005. The Collaboration will then take 60 days of public comment on the comprehensive draft document before submitting a final report next December.
The environmental groups working on the various Strategy Teams are optimistic that the end product will drive a significant effort to restore the Great Lakes, but realize it won’t happen without a transparent process with multiple opportunities for the public to influence the plan. To that end, many of the environmental groups sent a letter to the GLRC Executive Committee requesting stakeholder input while the Executive Committee is compiling the Strategy Team drafts into the comprehensive draft document. The input and energy of GLAHNF members will be critical to making sure that the result of the GLRC is more than just another report that collects dust on the shelves of bureaucrats. It is indeed important to organize and coordinate restoration work across the basin in order to more effectively utilize limited financial resources. However, it is also imperative for restoration advocates to send the message that organization and planning alone will not restore the Great Lakes. In addition to the work of the GLRC, the federal government and states must commit to substantial and sustainable restoration funding before we will see progress on the ground.
If you would like to learn more about the GLRC and ways you can help promote restoring the Great Lakes, please visit the Great Lakes restoration website at www.restorethelakes.org.