The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has developed standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the sample collection of treated ballast water sampling for use by scientific researchers. A link to sampling SOPs will be inserted in the data gathering and analysis plan for the experience-building phase associated with the Convention.
Topics addressed in the report include: reviews of shipping vectors and progress in ballast water research, risk assessment methods and testing of ballast water treatment techniques, recommendations on port ballast water sampling programmes, considerations of discharge standards for organisms in ballast water, and hull fouling regulations and treatment options.
Mainly, the purpose of the report is to present the ways on how to collect samples of treated ballast water using a ship supplied sample port and probe, that may vary in size and specifications according to individual installations, and traditional plankton nets.
Specifically, the samples are collected to assess the efficacy of BWTS against Regulation D-2 of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004.
The procedures are:
- Gather essential information from ships’ Officers and/or Engineers required to connect scientific sample collection device to ship-supplied sample port;
- Determine a target sample flow rate lower than isokinetic flow velocity, with reasonable error bounds, for sampling from a ballast system with set parameters;
- Conduct sample collection using a large volume sample collection device and plankton nets for later analysis of organisms in the ≥50-µm size range, and a small volume sample collection device for later analysis of organisms in the ≥10 to <50-µm size range and indicator microbes;
- Prepare 10-µm filtered ballast water for use as sample rinse water;
- Split small volume ballast water sample into bottles for later analysis;
- Clean/sterilize all scientific sampling equipment for next use.
Moreover, ICES states that spreading non-native species is now recognised as one of the greatest threats to the ecological and economic well-being of the planet, causing damage to native biodiversity and negatively impacting commercially important natural resources.
Shipping vectors, as ballast water, ballast sediments, in-tank biofouling, and fouled hulls are the primary way through which these species are spread.
Due to this spreading, human health effects are becoming worse and damage to the environment is unpreventable.
Therefore, preventing the transfer of aquatic species and coordinating an effective response to invasions requires collaboration among governments, industry bodies, scientists, lawyers, non-governmental organizations and international treaty organizations.
Working Group on Ballast and Other Ship Vectors (WGBOSV) supports its three organizations: IMO, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO and ICES.
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