Reports - WSTB

WSTB Reports

Great Lakes Shipping, Trade, and Aquatic Invasive Species (2008)

Report in Brief

Since its opening in 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway has provided a route into the Great Lakes not only for trade, but also unfortunately for aquatic invasive species (AIS) that have had severe economic and environmental impacts on the region. Prevention measures have been introduced by the governments of Canada and the United States, but reports of newly discovered AIS continue, and only time will tell what impacts these species may have. Pressure to solve the problem has even led to proposals that the Seaway be closed. At the request of the Great Lakes Protection Fund, the National Research Council assembled a committee of experts to identify and explore options that would both enhance the potential for global trade in the Great Lakes region and eliminate further introductions of aquatic invasive species from ships transiting the St. Lawrence Seaway. This report concludes that trade should continue on the St. Lawrence Seaway but with a more effective suite of prevention measures that evolves over time in response to lessons learned and new technologies.
More...