Post-Conference Summary

The first National Conference on Marine Bioinvasions, held January 24-27, 1999 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology brought together 250 scientists, managers and industry representatives. The presentations and poster sessions focused on ballast water and technologies to minimize introductions from ballast water, patterns of invasions, ecological and evolutionary consequences, management strategies and control options, and outreach and educational activities. Of special note were the well-polished presentations by students -- the next generation of researchers and managers who will continue to focus on solutions to the problem of marine bioinvasions.

U.S. Secretary Bruce Babbitt

One of the highlights of the Conference was the address by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt. He opened his remarks by noting that the effects from marine invaders may be more severe and longer lasting than impacts from oil spills. The accelerating rate of exotic species transfer reflects global trade routes that have increased in size and frequency. Ship traffic and ballast water exchange has increased over 100-fold in some routes; aquaculture and the aquarium trade are larger today than in the past; and numerous diverse sources reflect new dimensions to transfer vectors. All contribute to the threat of bioinvasions.

Secretary Babbitt announced that President Clinton would be releasing an Executive Order [68K PDF] (released on February 3, 1999) that will require interagency cooperation and create an interagency task force. As part of the administrationís commitment, " agency budgets must catch up to, and keep pace with, the ecological devastation they target". The need for preventative action as a way of minimizing the impacts is cost-effective and should be a top priority. In order to accomplish this, international cooperation and collaboration, particularly among the shipping community is imperative. [Note: The Executive Order includes the creation of an Invasive Species Council and a proposes a $28 million budget].

Plenary Talks

Plenary speakers, Dr. James Carlton, Director, Williams College-Mystic Seaport Maritime Studies Program and Dr. Ronald Thresher, Head of CSIRO - Centre for Research on Marine Introduced Pests both challenged participants in their presentations. Carlton highlighted four often-overlooked aspects of marine invasions. Many invasive species have (1) had little or no history of invasions and (2) shown a significant "lag-time" before they appear in new environments, despite the long-term existence of vectors. This suggests that many species may become invasive under favorable conditions and Carlton suggests that it is ill advised to compile a "black" (also called unwanted, nuisance, or organisms likely to cause problems) list of species. He (3) further noted that impact is not a "yes" or "no" phenomenon but rather a question of scale and type of impact. Economic damage and threats to human health are considered more serious impacts than those affecting ecosystems, yet all invasions have some impact. The third point that Carlton made was to underscore that invasion of the smallest organisms, e.g. viruses, bacteria and phytoplankton are seriously under-estimated. Cholera, noxious algal blooms, and spread of diseases in aquaculture are a few of the types of damage attributed to "small" invaders. Only with improved studies and monitoring capabilities will the extent of the problem be understood and documented.

Ronald Thresher challenged those attending to look beyond ballast water as the major transfer vector, and to recognize that there are many mechanisms by which nonindigenous species can enter new environments. The importance of fouling communities was identified as an overlooked source. Thresher offered suggestions for managing invasive species. Risk assessment offers the benefit of ranking the relative importance of transfer vectors, species of concern, and organisms posing serious threats. Similarly, adoption of a "risk minimization" strategy will allow a focused approach to management of invasive species. Thresher advocates the use of funds to address "budding problems" before they are out of control. He, as did many others attending the conference, noted that all invasions have some effect, but he identified three groups as particularly important: (1) marine pathogens, (2) invasive marine algae, and (3) organisms that genetically alter native species.

Overview Presentations

Overview discussions focused on three thematic topics of the conference: patterns of invasions, ballast water and ecological and evolutionary consequences. Greg Ruiz summarized limitations in our understanding of patterns of invasions. He noted that we lack the data to make comparisons - except at a relative scale. Three areas were identified where better information would provide new insights into exotic species invasions. (1) Without better information, our perspectives are biased towards those vectors that we understand the best. Studies should be expanded to focus on other less known vectors and to evaluate their importance as sources of invading species. (2) The lack of definitive data on vectors or mechanisms of transport for many species hampers adoption of prevention and control measures. Many species may enter by multiple vectors, which impacts strategies for managing invasions. (3) Ruizís third point was that we would benefit from standardized methods of collection. The need for global standards was an often-repeated theme.

Allegra Cangelosi summarized the very broad topic of ballast water and technologies for minimizing introductions from ballast water. She spoke of the need for collaboration between industry, agencies and scientists to develop sound approaches that are cost-effective. One example of effective collaboration is the response to zebra mussels in the Great Lakes. The cooperation of stakeholders, on both sides of the border, resulted in resources -- from funding, international agreement, industry cooperation, and regulations -- to address the problem.

Edward Grosholz discussed the ecological and evolutionary consequences of biological invasions. Ecological consequences can be documented from studies that examine single species, multispecies, community, food web and ecosystem processes. Several different approaches are used to study invasions -- experimental, models, statistical analyses and before and after control impact (BACI). Nonetheless, results may not yield insights at appropriate scales and time frames.

Evolutionary consequences are based on evolutionary morphology, fitness correlates, hybridization, loss of heterozygosity, temporal and spatial genetic variations in local/regional invader populations, and invasions of cryptic species. A variety of approaches including breeding programs and genetic, phylogeography, and phylogeny studies are used. Basic information such as vouchers of invading species, baseline data, analysis of recruitment patterns, merging of data with models of demographic studies will be helpful in gaining insights into evolutionary consequences.

Gary Edwards, Assistant Director of Fisheries, reviewed the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force and its role in supporting studies and legislation to address problems associated with a variety of introduced species and shipping related activities. The passage of the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act (NANPCA) of 1990 provided for development of a management plan for aquatic nuisance species, focused on ballast water, authorized regional and international coordination, and established the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force. Accomplishments include research support for ballast water, new international initiatives, voluntary guidelines for recreational boaters, new regulations, several studies and establishment of a national ballast water database, funding to support research, monitoring, management initiatives and control of aquatic nonindigenous species. The passage of the NANPCA reauthorization, the national invasive species act of 1996 (NISA 96) has permitted the continuation of this work.

Some General Perspectives from the Conference

The conference brought together groups that do not usually convene on the topic of marine bioinvasions. This resulted in cross-fertilization of ideas among the scientist, managers, and industry representatives. Several consistent themes emerged -- a call for action, identification of prevention and control strategies, the need for education, support for research, and management of data.

The challenge to government is to provide the legislative and financial support in a timely fashion to "act now" and to provide for incorporation of new information in the future. In the United States, the rulemaking process to enact legislation and garner support can be effective. Over time, priorities shift and programs should allow for reallocation of resources to maximize effective response.

Five strategies were identified for improved management: prevention, early detection, rapid response, eradication, and control. In the long-term, prevention is considered less costly than eradication or control. Early detection of new invasions may lead to a rapid response and may result in eradication. This too, may be cost-effective and requires early accessibility of relatively small amounts of funding. A rapid response program is recommended for the exotic Rapa whelk, Rapana venosa, but currently mechanisms to fund such early response are lacking.

Education of stakeholders, training of the next generation of scientists and outreach to the public are components that lead to support for legislation, for programs, and for early detection. Unfortunately, public support usually rallies around a serious economic or human health threat.

In summary, there were many excellent papers and posters on the ecology and biology of invasions, on technologies to minimize or prevent the release of nonindigenous organisms, and on approaches to managing invasive species. Readers are urged to review abstracts from the conference.

The proceedings are available through MIT Sea Grant Publications. Search for "Marine Bioinvasions".

Panel Discussion

The conference ended with a discussion by a distinguished panel, Andrew Cohen, San Francisco Estuary Institute; Bella Galil, National Institute of Oceanography, Haifa, Israel; Armand Kuris, University of California Santa Barbara; Kathy Metcalf, U.S. Chamber of Shipping; and the audience. Panelists were asked to comment on the following statement:

We have no evidence that we can prevent ALL bioinvasions in the long-term, and with few exceptions bioinvaders are here to stay.

The panelists made several points. Kathy Metcalf identified the need for surveys -- to assess potential invaders and to evaluate the effectiveness of technologies designed to minimize or eliminate invaders. She noted that ballast water exchange is not a complete solution and that other options should be explored. International standards in surveys and reporting are necessary to understand the global scope of the problem.

Industries realize that they will be regulated, but Metcalf stressed the need for "smart" regulations. From an engineering perspective, there are two general ways to treat ballast water -- on ship or off ship. Laboratory tests need to be transferred to shipboard to assess if they are effective. Because ballast water is only one of many mechanisms of introductions, all vectors should be evaluated. Resources should be allocated to minimize or eliminate introductions for all transfer pathways.

Armand Kuris focused on the need for development of a stronger and coherent national plan. As part of the plan there should be an implementation strategy that focuses on our current areas of concern, but that has a long-term goal of incorporating new information. Over time, things change and we need effective science to meet the changing personal values.

Bella Galil focused on her experiences in the Mediterranean Sea. The opening of the Suez Canal brought new species from the Red Sea that have extended their range over the last 25 years and, in some instances, out-competed native species. Some of these species today represent over half of the commercial trawl catch. In 130 years, none of the native species have gone extinct, although there is a reduction of native species biomass and habitat. Galil called for rules and regulations that delay transfer and transport and for actions that mitigate or eliminate non-native species.

Andrew Cohen highlighted the need for prevention and control. Effective prevention creates a barrier and minimizes or excludes entry of nonindigenous species. This often means regulations. Control is the reduction or eradication of reproducing populations, which is often possible on a localized scale. Cohen stressed that we should adopt prevention mechanisms as much as possible and adopt as little control as we can get away with.

The discussion was opened to the audience and several other important points were brought to the floor. Every organism is a potential invader, each invader will have some impact. Thus, the strategy should be to prevent all organisms from being introduced. Most agreed to adopt a white list approach to management whereby regulations mandate using best available technology to prevent introductions by all mechanisms. Some suggested that it is also necessary to have a list of "bad customers" to be used in setting priorities.

The need for rapid response and funding to implement early eradication efforts was re-emphasized. Similarly, the need for trained taxonomists to support early detection efforts was underscored, but there are few academic positions available in this field.

The problem of preventing and controlling marine bioinvasions will need to be addressed globally. Several conferees urged the U.S. to exert leadership and take the initiative in adopting legislation and approaches to minimize introductions. This may include writing to senators and representatives urging them to pass new legislation, to support research and management programs, to sign international treaties, and to provide for enforcement.