Evaluating temperature effects on the efficacy of ballast water treatments to prevent non-indigenous introductions into the Canadian Arctic

No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author.

Ballast water is the primary vector for the transfer of non-indigenous species (NIS) among freshwater and marine ecosystems. Current strategies to reduce biological invasions are not 100% effective and additional measures are being developed to minimize the number of viable individuals discharged in ballast water. One of these measures is the use of ballast water treatment on board ships, however, effectiveness needs to be tested at the extreme edges of operational conditions (i.e., very low temperatures). We examine the effectiveness of ballast water treatments for eliminating plankton populations at different temperatures. Preliminary results showed that both treatments (chlorination and UV) have more than 60% efficacy eliminating two taxonomic groups (zooplankton and phytoplankton) at 2°C and 20 °C.