Seaway Plan Promotes Increased Shipping,
Ignores
Heightened Risk of Invasion
”the Seaway’s top priority should be cleaning up
their act”
(Buffalo,
NY August 3, 2006)-Great Lakes Seaway managers are ramping up a campaign to
promote increased ocean-going shipping on the lakes—despite the fact that
ocean-going vessels are the No. 1 pathway for non-native species to enter the
lakes.
“Shippers,
carriers and Seaway managers are responsible for introducing the overwhelming
majority of aquatic invasive species into the Great Lakes,”
said Jennifer Caddick, executive director of Save the River. “It’s
time that they took responsibility for their actions, rather than make the
problem worse. This means preventing new non-native species from entering the
lakes before promoting increases in ocean-vessel traffic.”
Since the Seaway opened
in 1959, ocean-going vessels have transported and introduced 65 percent of
aquatic invasive species into the Great Lakes,
including invaders such as the zebra mussel, spiny water flea and round goby.
On average, one new non-native species enters the Great
Lakes every 28 weeks.
New research shows that
the rate of discovery of invaders in the Great Lakes
is correlated with shipping activity, and is amongst the highest rates for any
aquatic system in the world.
“The priorities of U.S.
and Canadian Seaway managers are off,” said Jennifer Nalbone, campaign
director of Great Lakes United. “The most pressing current debate is how
to prevent new invasions from ocean-going vessels, and even whether ocean-going
vessels belong on the Great Lakes. With
ocean-vessels in the cross-hairs, the Seaway’s top priority should be
cleaning up their act.”
The
Canadian St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation and U.S. St. Lawrence
Seaway Development Corporation are backing a new promotional campaign called
“Highway H2O” which aims to bring Seaway-sized container vessels
into the lakes.
“Seaway managers
have put the cart before the horse,” said Andy Buchsbaum, director of the
National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes
office “The Great Lakes are breaking down, and a big reason is the influx
of aquatic invasive species. The good news is that we have manageable
solutions. It is now time to use them so that we can protect the lakes for our
children and generations to come.”
For more
information contact:
Jennifer
Caddick, Save the River: (315) 686-2010 jennifer@savetheriver.org
Jennifer Nalbone, Great Lakes United: (716) 213-0408 jen@glu.org
Jordan Lubetkin, National Wildlife Federation: (734)769-3351 lubetkin@nwf.org
Jennifer Nalbone
Campaign Director, Great Lakes
United
(716) 213-0408; web: www.glu.org
Great Lakes United staff represented by UAW Local 55
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