Check you ballast at the door

Researchers at Portland State University and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center have joined together to develop a system to monitor ballast water exchange, according to this article from The Columbian. The scientists are interested in creating standards that will allow them to determine whether a ship has exchanged ballast water mid-ocean. While this is considered to be better for invasive species prevention than dumping ballast in port, it is not a perfect solution, and the search continues for technology that will prevent all non-native species introductions.

Thanks to the Protect Your Waters web site for posting a link to this article.