The International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations body which administers the international regulatory regime for shipping, noted the negative impact of non-indigenous organisms transported in the ballast water of ships already in the early 1970s. Consequently, measures were taken with the aim to minimize ballast water mediated species invasions through IMO Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) Resolutions. As a result of long-term IMO efforts, it was determined that an international convention would best meet the needs of the global community, hence the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments was adopted in a Diplomatic Conference in 2004 and is now open for signature by IMO Member States. This very complex (and by no means "simple") Convention aims to reduce the transfer and subsequent impact of aquatic organisms in the ballast water and sediment of ships by acting to reduce the load of these organisms in discharged ballast water. A set of 15 guidelines provides technical guidance for the implementation of the Convention principles. This review considers critical aspects of this Convention and selected guidelines seen from perspectives of biological, shipping and regulatory concerns. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
Research Group:	Fisheries Sciences
Research Field:	Aquaculture
Objective Division:	Animal Production and Animal Primary Products
Objective Group:	Fisheries - Aquaculture
Objective Field:	Fisheries - Aquaculture not elsewhere classified
Author:	Hewitt, CL (Professor Chad Hewitt)
ID Code:	50052
Year Published:	2007
Web of Science® Times Cited:	76
Deposited By:	NC Marine Conservation and Resource Sustainability
Deposited On:	2007-08-01
Last Modified:	2008-04-05
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