The Harwich Haven Authority (HHA) has appointed ecosystems survey expert, Thomson Ecology, to review surveys from the past five years to determine the range and number of non-native species in the Harwich area.
Surveys carried out by the authority together with ones conducted by other agencies, such as the Environment Agency and Natural England, will be reviewed to enable Thomson Ecology to establish which species are being introduced on the hulls or in the ballast tanks of commercial vehicles.
John Brien, HHA’s harbour engineer, said: “There is growing interest in monitoring the non-native species in our waters and legislation has been introduced to identify the species which post a particular threat and to introduce measures to control their spread, if possible.”
“The authority is carrying out the first stage of what may become a wider scale study in collaboration with other regulators and conservation bodies in the area,” he concluded.
The initiative comes ahead of a new IMO convention, due to come into force in 2016, regarding the management of ship’s ballast water. The convention means the likely requirement of new surveys into non-native species and the authority is keen to get a head-start by arranging analysis of the extensive data that is already available.
The review will advise on the likely environmental impact of well-known species such as the Chinese Mitten Crab and ‘Killer Shrimps’, together with lesser-knowns such as Slipper Limpets, Japanese Wire Weed and Carpet Sea Squirts and will allow the authority to consider what further surveys and analysis might be required in the future.
