Canada-U.S. ballast water inspections protect the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway ecosystem

OTTAWA, Ont. — A two-day event highlighting joint Canadian and American efforts to protect the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway from invasive species wrapped up earlier today in Montreal.

Hosted by the Canadian St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, the American St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation and FedNav, a private Canadian shipping firm, along with officials from Transport Canada and the United States Coast Guard, the event Monday demonstrated ballast water inspection in action to Canadian, American and French media at Montreal’s St. Lambert Lock at the entrance to the St. Lawrence Seaway. A follow-up event today demonstrated these protective measures to representatives from State governments and other stakeholders from the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway region.

“Our government is committed to protecting Canada’s marine environment. Since 2006, there has been zero tolerance federally for unmanaged ballast water entering the Great Lakes and zero tolerance for pollution from ships. We’ve invested financial resources on the ground for inspectors and reinforced our National Aerial Surveillance Program to detect polluters and fine them,” said the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. “The joint Canadian and American effort to protect the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence ecosystem from invasive species is working.”

Transport Canada has implemented the Ballast Water Control and Management Regulations since 2006, one of the strongest regimes of its kind in place in the world.

Transport Canada’s joint inspections with the Canadian and American Seaway corporations, and the US Coast Guard verify compliance, before ships enter the Seaway, by sampling and measuring the salinity of on-board ballast water; and target both ships with ballast on board and ships with only residual amounts of ballast on board.

Results show there is very high compliance 97% in 2007 with corrective action taken when problems are found before ships enter the Seaway, according to officials.