King Of The Fishes

The Great Lakes-area news is abuzz with the announcement that the US government has appointed an Asian carp czar to oversee efforts to keep Asian carp out of the lakes.

Some Light Holiday Reading

New from the Bureau of Reclamation: Inspection and Cleaning Manual for Equipment and Vehicles to Prevent the Spread of Invasive Species. Who knew there was such a thing as an "Under-vehicle inspection mirror"?

Get Consolidated

How would you like to own a copy of the "Consolidated list of environmental weeds in New Zealand"? You now can, as it's a free download from the NZ Department of Conservation. Maybe, though, the right question to be asking is instead "How can New Zealand consolidate a list of weeds when more that half of their flora is introduced?" They manage to do a good job of it, narrowing down the list to 328 plants, and displaying the whole thing in a nice set of tables in the Appendices that are just begging to be mined for data :-). Some notable entries:

• Prunus persica (Peach!) as an island invader
• Spartina alterniflora (smooth cord grass) - is there anywhere we haven't introduced that plant, including our own West Coast?
• The knotweeds listed under genus Reynoutria - I thought the battle of genera was narrowed down to Fallopia vs. Polygonum long ago, but then here comes Reynoutria bouncing back!

A pretty interesting read, and one many of us outside of New Zealand would never have seen had the government not released this doc to the internet. Thanks to Andrew B. for sending in a link!

It's Baaaaaaaack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back from the dead, and looking little worse for the wear, it's the National Aquatic Invasive Species Act (NAISA). This bill has been resurrected in the US Congress in one way or another since 2002, but has yet to pass. Will 2007 be the year for it? Democrat Carl Levin of Michigan and Republican Susan Collins of Maine seem to think so.

The bill has major provisions for ballast water regulation, and would require a permit for the importation of any non-native species not on an approved "white list." It also lists appropriations for research and for the development of rapid response tools so that states will be able to better deal with problems at the earliest stages of invasion. The full text of the bill can be accessed via the link above, or you can check out prior ISW coverage of NAISA here.

Thanks to Lindsay G. from the National Wildlife Federation sending in a link to the press release.