Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Oh Seychelles, You See

The Seychelles Nation is reporting that the Republic of Seychelles recently designated an official ballast water exchange zone for ships stopping at their island nation. The decision is a direct result of the discovery of three species of introduced bryozoans in the island waters. The site of exchange, located about 80 miles from Port Victoria, is now marked on all charts distributed to visiting ships.

At the end of the article, there is a note from an IUCN scientist that ballast discharge is less of an issue for Seychelles because it is mainly a country of imports, meaning that ships are weighed down by the goods they arrive with and need to take on ballast water when they depart. I look forward to the results of the IUCN study that will reveal whether this is truly the case (though it apparently started in 2004 so I am not sure what its status is).

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