EAC CALLS FOR ACTION ON BIOINVASIONS

Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2002 16:54:43 -0400
From: fitzgerg <fitzgerg@dal.ca>
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Hello sust-mar subscribers -

This press release was written in response to two coincident events: the
release of Canada's Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable
Development's (CESD) report on invasive species, and the detection of the
oyster-killing parasite MSX in the Bras D'Or Lakes, Cape Breton.

The CESD report is available online at:
http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/cesd_cedd.nsf/html/menu3_e.html

Regards,
Gretchen Fitzgerald



PRESS RELEASE:

ECOLOGY ACTION CENTRE CALLS ON CANADIAN GOVERNMENT TO RESPOND TO THREAT OF
BIOINVADERS SUCH AS OYSTER-KILLER MSX

Thursday, October 31, 2002

The Committee On Marine Bioinvasions (COMB) of the Ecology Action Centre says
the recent arrival of the oyster parasite known as MSX in the Bras D'Or Lakes
is a symptom of an infection of inertia that has immobilised the government of
Canada. This diagnosis is supported by a report issued last week by the
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD).

"The lack of monitoring and regulation for invasive species is shocking," says
Gretchen Fitzgerald, a member of COMB and graduate student at Dalhousie
University, "If monitoring for bioinvaders had been in place, this invasion
might have been prevented or stopped before serious damage was done."

The invasion of MSX was predicted over a year ago by experts attending a
workshop on the subject of aquatic bioinvasions hosted by the Ecology Action
Centre. "We get no satisfaction from the fact that we saw this coming," says
Fitzgerald, "but, in reality, this invasion and the conclusions of the
Commissioner's report merely increase our sense of unease. If we could see
this coming, why didn't DFO or Transport Canada act to prevent it? And what is
being done to prevent the introduction of the other potential bioinvaders on
our list - one of which is another deadly oyster disease?"

Oyster farmers believe the disease will cost millions of dollars in damage and
its introduction is a real setback for the burgeoning oyster farming industry
in Cape Breton, an industry that is worth $900,000 annually. MSX is just the
latest of a series of bioinvasions detected in Atlantic Canada in recent
years, which has seen the arrival of the green crab, the clubbed tunicate, and
the Japanese green seaweed Codium sp., also known as the oyster thief.

"It is clear in this report that DFO and Transport Canada are passing the buck
while bioinvaders creep in," says Dr. Lise Chapman, a research associate at
Dalhousie University and an expert on the Codium sp. invasion, "In two weeks,
I have the onerous task of describing Canadian initiatives for the monitoring
of aquatic invasions at a conference in Boston. It promises to be a very short
presentation because, to my knowledge, there are no such programmes in place."

In fact, according to the CESD report, there has been no "identifiable change"
in government policy in response to the problem of bioinvasions. This in spite
of Canada's commitment to deal with the issue of bioinvasions in the
decade-old UN Convention on Biological Diversity, not to mention the costs of
bioinvasions to the Canadian economy, costs that are estimated to be in the
billions of dollars per year. The report is harshly critical of Environment
Canada for failing to meet its obligation to spearhead policies relating to
invasive species.

Transport Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans are also skewered
in the report for failing to respond to the threat the aquatic invasions. DFO
is obligated under the Fisheries Act to deal with invasive species because
they are a significant threat to fish habitat and food. Bill C-15 of the
Canada Shipping Act gives Transport Canada a means to regulate ships' ballast,
a major vector for marine bioinvaders. The CESD report calls for DFO and
Transport Canada to work together to come up with standards for ballast water
treatment and to see to it that these standards are met through monitoring.

The oyster-killing parasite MSX was discovered last August at an oyster farm
located adjacent to the Little Narrows gypsum loading facility. Although DFO
is still trying to pinpoint the origin of the disease, the parasite may have
been transported to the area on ships' hulls or in ballast water. Ships using
the facility commonly travel from the port of Baltimore, an area where
outbreaks of the MSX parasite are common. Ships travelling from the region are
not permitted to discharge their ballast in US coastal waters because of the
risk of spreading critters such as MSX, but there are no such regulations in
place north of the border.

The CESD report concludes with a prediction that, with globalisation, the
likelihood of new introductions will increase. "If the Ministers of the
Environment, Transport, and Fisheries and Oceans don't act soon to address the
problem of bionvasions, we can expect further devastation and the costs of
invasions will soar" warns Fitzgerald, "Experts agree that prevention of
bioinvasions is the key. Once they are here, bioinvaders, especially aquatic
bioinvaders, are virtually impossible to eradicate. It's a case of go hard or
they won't go home."


If you would like more information, please contact Gretchen Fitzgerald at the
Ecology Action Centre (902-429 -2202) or Lise Chapman (902-868-1357 or
902-494-2349).


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