[quote=SecondWindNC;1638098]Aquatic invasive species? You mean like Bayliners and Sea Rays?[/quote]
Yes, With those big old blow motors.
03-17-2014 03:22 PM
Re: Aquatic Invasive Species
Aquatic invasive species? You mean like Bayliners and Sea Rays?
03-14-2014 07:25 PM
Re: Aquatic Invasive Species
Government precautions to prevent importation of "Aquatic Invasive Species" are becomming a major concern for cruising yachts. Yachts clearing into a country from international ports have had to undergo a quarantine inspection since the turn of the century to prevent the importation of foods or soil that may contain diseases, seeds or plants that might prove dangerous to the local environment or economy. These concerns are not being extended to include the possible importation of marine organisms by yachts.
In 2005 Australia began a "voluntary" system that asked all yachts less than 25m long coming from foreign ports to be certain their yachts are free from fouling organisms. That trial period is coming to a close and Australia is expected to make quarintine inspections for marine fouling organisms mandatory in the near future.
Yachts less than 25m in length are required to:
1. Have an effective - and approved - anti-fouling coating. This coating must be recent and in good condition. Any bottom paint containing TBTO is prohibited (tests are conducted to determine if the paint is approved).
2. Inspect, and if necessary, clean the vessel including, but not limited to, the entire bottom, internal seawater systems, sea chests, rudder stock and propeller shafts, anchors, chains and other ancillary gear immediately prior to arrival in Australia. Once inspected and cleaned at an overseas port, the yacht must depart immediately and traveldirectly to Australia to minimise re-contamination.
3. Maintain a voyage and biofouling maintenance log and other documentation that supports any biofouling mitigation activities undertaken.
Inspectors will determine if the operator’s maintenance has been effective in minimising the biofouling accumulation on the vessel and, if there is any doubt, schedule an in-water inspection by divers to determine the level and nature of biofouling present. Reference DAFF website:
(link prevented by forum rules)
Internationally travelling yachts will do well to maintain their biofouling and pest maintenance log in a professional format and keep dated shipyard receipts of antifouling paints used.
09-07-2011 05:07 PM
[QUOTE=Chris12345;771243]Just remember that y'all are an invasive species, too.
If you are sailors, even an aquatic one.[/QUOTE]
Yep, we are the most invasive species on this little planet. We even want to invade other planets.
07-27-2009 01:12 PM
Ballast water management plans are already mandatory for ships calling on U.S. ports (and many other countries). Ballast water exchange in the open ocean is by far the most common management technique but filtration and UV and biocidal treatments are used as well.
04-14-2009 10:30 PM
Treating ballast water is not as simple as it seems. UV light treatments and microwave treatments have both been shown to be effective, however both can also be cost/time prohibitive to shipping companies that are already feeling the heat of a stressed economy. Passing legislation making treatment mandatory is a whole different ball of wax.
The invasive species that are already in a new environment are likely to be there forever. Once an invasion has occurred, it's sadly too late. The key then becomes early detection and monitoring to stop the spread to other others.
Organizations like Sea Grant and the Great Lakes Commission are working hard to come up with solutions to this difficult social-political-economical-environmental problem.
04-06-2009 10:38 AM
The problem is most prevalent on cargo ships with ballast tanks. Fortunately technology has now been developed which blasts the ballast tanks with microwaves, killing all life within them.
Obviously with the large amount of leisure boats in the waters they too pose a serious risk
03-01-2009 09:46 PM
Water quality has indeed been improved in the Great Lakes since the introduction of zebra muscles in the mid 80's. The down side that is frequently missed by those who equate clear water with water quality is the very rapid growth of these invaders on city water intakes and powerlant intakes. In some cases plants had to be shut down so that intakes could be cleaned. In addition, anyone who has been to a Great Lake beach knows that now bathers need to wear protective footwear to guard against the very nasty cuts caused by stepping on hard surfaces such as rocks and other freshwater bivalves that are infested with zebra muscles. After reading the first post in this thread I find it somewhat curious that anyone could make the case that zebra muscles do no harm.
12-08-2008 06:27 PM
I have sailed mostly in Lake Ontario for more than thirty years. As a boy the problem was that phosphates were so thick that visibility in the waters was terrible. When the scourge of zebra muscles came along everyone acted as though the sky was falling - it did not do so. Every one of those muscles apparently filters sixty gallons of water a day. The water clarity improved dramatically. Yes zebra muscles attached themselves to hard objects like rocks and steel pilings but they stayed off of bottom paint like the plague. Yes I had to start using bottom paint on our run about but we always used it on our sailboat so it was no big deal. I started to fish and you should see the largemouth bass, pike and yellow perch we have caught over the years - yes there are some large fish and they are in good healthy numbers. Overall my comparision is that the water quality has improved dramatically as a result of their presence. I am not too old but old enough to remember what it was like before they were here and what it has been like since they arrived - I see no harm done as a result.
06-25-2008 08:07 PM
We did a thread just like this about 8 months ago.
This thread has more than 10 replies.
Click here to review the whole thread.