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GLPF
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Interests > Biological
Pollution
Preventing
Biological Pollution
In 1996, the Great Lakes Protection Fund launched an initiative
focused on preventing the ballast mediated transfer of non-native
biota.
Ballast water is the leading vector for unintentional transfers
of non-indigenous organisms into the Great Lakes and other
U.S. waters. It is estimated that over 21 billion gallons
of foreign ballast water is discharged in U.S. ports every
year. Ballast water can contain practically all organisms
present in the harbor from which the water was drawn. One
Oregon study, for example, identified 367 species released
from Japanese ships in a four-hour period. Impacts from any
one of these organisms could include loss of native biological
diversity, degradation of the fishery and other recreational
assets, increased maintenance of the basin's water supply
infrastructure, and increased risk of human disease. Great
Lakes invaders believed to be spread by ballast-mediated transport
include the zebra mussel and the Eurasian ruffe.
The Fund's initiative on biological pollution focuses on
action. Successful projects build upon, but are not redundant
to the substantial body of work describing the impact of exotic
species in the basin and the planning activities undertaken
by state aquatic nuisance species panels.
The objectives of this initiative are three-fold:
- To catalyze action-the design and implementation of prevention
strategies that keep the Great Lakes open to commerce but
closed to exotic species.
- To put Great Lakes states, shippers, academic institutions
and industry in a leadership position in designing prevention
technologies and strategies.
- To begin to build the technical and scientific tools needed
to identify and manage the risks associated with ballast
mediated transport of biota.
The Fund welcomes preproposals to expand action that prevents
biological pollution. The Fund is particularly interested
in exploring projects that:
- Develop and apply customer-driven market incentives for
"clean" invasive-free shipping.
- Build and disseminate the forensic tools to identify transport
vectors and trace invasive species to their source.
- Refine and test best preventative practices for shippers.
- Identify potential sources and types of future invasive
species, likely vectors by which they will be introduced,
and the ability of the Great Lakes ecosystem to support
them.
- Develop risk insurance, assurance, or other financial
products that mitigate the consequences of exotic species
invasion.
See Application Process
to review our general
funding guidelines and instructions for preproposal
submission, including the required cover sheet.
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