Jamaica aims to ratify Ballast Water Management Convention

Maritime industry stakeholders were last week educated on the damaging effects of ballast water on sensitive marine environments.

The workshop was hosted by the Department of Life Science, Centre for Marine Sciences, the University of the West Indies (UWI). It was held at the Medallion Hall Hotel in Kingston.

Bertrand Smith, The Maritime Authority of Jamaica's (MAJ) director of legal affairs, deli-vered a presentation on the implications of ratifying the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) Ballast Water Management Convention 2004. Smith chairs the 25-country task force on the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments in the Wider Caribbean Region.

He highlighted the main features of the Ballast Water Management Convention as well as the legislative and policy steps being taken by Jamaica's National Task Force, chaired by the MAJ, to give full and proper effect to the convention to which Jamaica expects to accede during 2011.

The findings of a three-year study funded by the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica entitled, 'The impact of marine invasive species on Jamaica's biological diversity through the release of ballast water', was presented to the participants. The study analysed ballast water samples from international vessels coming into Jamaica, to test their potential for marine invasive species.

Smith said, "The MAJ believes it is vital for Jamaica and other Countries in the region to accede to the IMO's Ballast Water Management Convention due to its strategic location as a hub for maritime traffic, including the accommodation of one-third of the world's oil traffic and the existence of highly sensitive marine ecosystems at risk of devastation by marine invasive species carried in ballast water."

No mitigation

Although Jamaica is known for its rich biodiversity, it has an economy that is heavily linked to the coastline and the majo-rity of its population is in coastal areas. In spite of this, no mitigation has yet been formally put in place to reduce the impact of ballast water introductions. Smith pointed out that Jamaica through the Ballast Water Management National Task Force has so far been successful in accomplishing the following:

Prepared a policy document which has been approved by the National Council on Ocean and Coastal Zone Management

Prepared a national assessment and developed a national strategy on ballast water management which has been submitted to Cabinet for accession to the treaty.

He noted that the committee is in the process of drafting instructions for the exchange of ballast water prior to entering Jamaican waters, as well as ballast water reporting forms.

Other presenters included Dr Dayne Buddo from the Centre of Marine Sciences, UWI; Dr Mona Webber of the Depart-ment of Life Sciences, UWI; Achsah Mitchell, MBA student of the Department of Applied Sciences; Nelsa English-Johnson of the National Environment and Planning Agency and Dr Suzanne Davis, National Focal Point for Jamaica's Clearing-House mechanism and Bio-safety Clearing House.