Bill to prevent invasive species languishes

[Algorem]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-10-17-lakespecies_x.htm

WASHINGTON (AP) — Legislation aimed at preventing foreign fish, clams and marine creatures from entering the Great Lakes in oceangoing ships is languishing in Congress while the shipping industry pushes a less restrictive bill.

Environmentalists and Great Lakes officials want legislation that would keep invasive species from making the trip in ships' ballast water, which is used to balance the vessels.

The Coast Guard requires ships entering U.S. waters to first exchange any fresh water ballast for salt water in the ocean, in an effort to cut down on foreign organisms that can survive in the Great Lakes. Fresh-water organisms generally have a harder time surviving in salt water, and the reverse is also true.

But questions remain about the effectiveness of this approach...

[HereSince1628]

1. W probably sees it as a STOP BUSH movement.

[sam sarrha]

2. The RepugNuts think it is a Mexican anti illegal immigration bill..

[Lilyhoney]

3. The spread of foreign organisms is of concern to me.

This is a problem that should have been taken care of a long, long time ago.

[Whoa_Nelly]

4. Zebra mussels are one of the big problems affecting the Great Lakes

This has been a huge problem for years.

http://www.great-lakes.net/envt/flora-fauna/invasive/zebra.html

<snip>
In Lake Michigan’s Calumet Harbor, new research reveals that some smaller fish have higher PCB concentrations than the predators that eat them, which could mean that resource managers will have to revise fish advisories and sampling protocols for monitoring cleanups.

Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) are small, fingernail-sized mussels native to the Caspian Sea region of Asia. They are believed to have been transported to the Great Lakes via ballast water from a transoceanic vessel. The ballast water, taken on in a freshwater European port was subsequently discharged into Lake St. Clair, near Detroit, where the mussel was discovered in 1988. Since that time, they have spread rapidly to all of the Great Lakes and waterways in many states, as well as Ontario and Quebec.

Go to this interactive map to see how zebra mussels have had a major impact on not only the Great Lakes, but also the connected waterways spanning thousands of miles.

http://nationalatlas.gov/dynamic/dyn_zm.html#