Assessing the Risk of Aquatic Nuisance Species Transfer from Ballast Water Discharge: Using Semi-Field Methodologies to Determine the Impact of ANS Reduction in Managed Ballast Water

Abstract

The research described within this document is a component of the Great Lakes Ballast Water Research and Development (R&D) Plan, established in 2020 by the University of Wisconsin-Superior Lake Superior Research Institute’s Great Waters Research Collaborative (GWRC) working in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Water. The R&D Plan was developed in response to the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA) of 2018 which was passed into law as part of the Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018 and established the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain Invasive Species Program (GLLCISP). The plan was developed to identify approaches, methods, and best available technologies that are effective at reducing propagules in Great Lakes ballast water and to provide essential scientific and technical information that will support science-based decisions during the VIDA rulemaking and implementation process. The research described in this document represents one focus area of the R&D Plan, Research Area 3 Project 2, using semi-field methodologies to determine the impact of aquatic nuisance species (ANS) reduction in managed ballast water. The key question addressed was: Using semi-field methodologies and a variety of freshwater taxonomic groups, can the impact of ANS reduction in Great Lakes ballast water be determined under a variety of scenarios? Chapters one and two provide an executive summary and literature review of mesocosm research along with providing details on a pilot experiment and failed experiments. Chapter 3 describes mesocosm methodology and the outcome of experiments conducted with seven surrogate protist invaders. Chapter 4 examines the use of eDNA as a tracer of protist invaders in the mesocosms. Chapters 5–8 describe the mesocosm work conducted with the zooplankton species Bythotrephes cederströmii, Daphnia magna, and Hemimysis anomala, and demonstrates that the discharge standard for zooplankton established by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) reduces but does not eliminate establishment probability of a zooplankter in mesocosms. eDNA detection of Bythotrephes cederströmii in mesocosms is examined in Chapter 6.