Verifying Ballast Water Treatment Performance

Abstract

A protocol ready for pilot-scale testing should improve knowledge of available technologies. The invasion of nonindigenous species has been cited as the greatest global threat to biodiversity other than habitat loss (1).Conservation biologists recognize these introductions and habitat destruction as the two most serious threats to endangered species worldwide (2).Nonindigenous aquatic nuisance species (ANS) that live in coastal areas around the world have had profound negative impacts on aquatic ecosystems (3-5) and are considered one of the most important environmental issues that the maritime community faces (6).In the U.S., for example, ANS alter important ecological processes and causes serious economic losses (7).