Invasive species Four articles 

1. Defra are seeking views on a regime to enforce the EU Invasive Alien Species Regulation in England and Wales. Deadline is 3 April 2018. See: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/natural-environment-policy/invasive-non-native-species-enforcement/.

2. Invasive Species Week is back from 23-29 March 2018. Throughout the week, the Royal Yachting Association will be joining forces with The Green Blue to focus on a different theme each day, you can join in on Twitter by following @CheckCleanDryGB or searching #InvasivesWeek.

3. ABPmer Marine biosecurity plans – protecting against invasive non-native species

Marine biosecurity plans are becoming a recognised tool to protect waters, habitats and infrastructure from the potentially damaging effects of marine invasive non-native species (INNS).  As such regulators are increasingly requesting them in the determination of licence applications.  More than 90 marine non-native species currently reside in Great Britain, some of which can cause significant operational disruption and environmental harm…continue

4. Checking ballast water for invasive planktonic species   Chelsea Technologies Group FastBallast Compliance Monitor.  One of the biggest vectors for aquatic invasive species is via the vast amount of ships’ ballast water that is moved around the world annually. It is estimated that there are 7,000 ocean hitchhikers being transported every hour of every day! To tackle this problem the Ballast Water Management Convention has recently been ratified to enforce water treatment and testing before discharge. Chelsea Technologies Group, with over 50 years’ experience monitoring phytoplankton, were awarded a grant to develop a method for measuring very low concentrations of phytoplankton cells to monitor if ballast water treatment systems are working effectively. As a result, the FastBallast Compliance Monitoring Systems are now capable of determining the phytoplankton cell density of ballast water at the IMO D2 & USCG Discharge Standards (10 to 50 µm range) with a higher degree of confidence than laboratory analysis.