NOAA National Center for Research on Aquatic Invasive Species (NCRAIS) Activities & Progress

Projects

CY2007

NOAA Invasive Species Program Management Team: Research Leadership & Outreach Coordination (David Reid and Rochelle Sturtevant)

Background: The Center is part of the NOAA Invasive Species Program (ISP) and provides research management support for that program. Reid and Sturtevant are members of the ISP Management Team.

CY2006: NCRAIS staff provided numerous research-related inputs and document reviews related to ISP activities. Reid submitted an FY2007 research initiative to establish a permanent NOAA AIS post-doctoral research program under NCRAIS. Sturtevant filed initiative proposals to establish a formal outreach and education program under the ISP and to enhance NOAA's online AIS database capabilities.

The role of NCRAIS expanded to include outreach development and coordination within the ISP and Rochelle Sturtevant was named to the ISP Management Team as Outreach Representative. Activities during FY2006 included development of outreach requirements for ISP RFPs related to lionfish and tunicates and review of the resultant proposals; review of various database proposals, and coordination between the Sea Grant Nonindigenous Species project and the ANS Clearinghouse project.

Mapping the Distribution of Hemimysis anomala: Port Surveys (David Reid)

In November 2006 the Ponto-Caspian mysid, Hemimysis anomala, was discovered near Muskegon, MI. It was later determined that the same species had been found in May 2006 near Oswego, NY. H. anomala is a successful invader of rocky freshwater habitat throughout Europe, including nearshore areas of the Baltic Sea and inland lakes and rivers. NCRAIS will organize a Hemimysis Survey and Monitoring Network. A priority activity of the Network will be to survey ports around the Great Lakes system, and, based on findings, advisories identifying ports with populations of Hemimysis will be issued so ships can take steps avoid transporting water from those sites. The industry has a record of such cooperation, e.g., they avoid transporting ballast water out of Duluth Harbor, but when operational necessity dictates they must, they replace it immediately offshore where the likelihood of encountering the invasive ruffe is much lower. Great Lakes shipping Industry associations and the U.S. St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation have expressed interest in assisting by briefing their members and distributing Advisories.

Database Coordination (Rochelle Sturtevant)

Background: A workshop for federal or federally-funded invasive species database managers was planned and conducted in September 2005 with funding from the National Ocean Service arranged by the NOAA ISP. A working group (Non-Indigenous Aquatic Species Database Working Group (NIASDWG)) of the Summit participants representing 10 databases and NISbase (http://www.nisbase.org/nisbase/index.jsp) was formed. NIASDWG members identified and agreed upon a long-term goal to move the working group toward integration into a Network for greater coordination of processes and data-streams, formalization of data-sharing agreements, and development of joint proposals for database expansion. Rochelle Sturtevant serves as the Chair of NIASDWG.

CY2006: Proceedings from the Summit were finalized and transmitted to appropriate agencies: NOAA, NISC, ANSTF, ISAC, Sea Grant AIS Theme Team, IJC, USGS, etc. A slide show and 1 page flyer were developed in support of outreach presentations about NIASDWG. NCRAIS (Rochelle Sturtevant) provided organizational leadership for NIASDWG and chaired quarterly conference calls of the working group which has led to development of several integrative projects (e.g., NISbase-projects) and better sharing of information and resources among the NIASDWG members. Other activities included reviewing a proposal for a database of taxonomic experts being developed by USGS, and hosting and exchanging ideas with the technical coordinator of the Baltic Sea Alien Species Database.

Ballast Water Exchange Report to Congress (David Reid, Rochelle Sturtevant)

Background: NOAA was directed to prepare a report for Congress evaluating the effectiveness of ballast water exchange (BWE) in protecting the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay. A proposal organized and coordinated by NCRAIS was submitted to the NOAA ISP Program and was funded. The project team consists of David Reid and David Raikow at GLERL/NCRAIS, Anthony Ricciardi (McGill University, via a contract from GLERL/NCRAIS), Rochelle Sturtevant (NCRAIS) and Greg Ruiz (Smithsonian Environmental Research Center). NCRAIS is leading the analysis of AIS ballast-mediated invasion history and vessel traffic for the Great Lakes; Ruiz has responsibility for summarizing the scientific results of ballast exchange experiments and the invasion history of the Chesapeake Bay.

CY2006: A draft report was completed and submitted to the NOAA ISP. In keeping with NOAA policy for potentially influential scientific documents, the draft report was sent out for peer-review. Revisions and/or responses to peer-review comments were completed in September 2006 and a revised manuscript is in preparation.

Great Lakes Aquatic Nonindigenous Species Information System (GLANSIS) (Rochelle Sturtevant; formerly David Raikow; David Reid)

GLANSIS Task Report

Background: This project is conducted as a partnership between NOAA and the USGS (Florida Integrated Science Center) and seeks to establish a “one-stop” information source for established non-indigenous aquatic species in the Great Lakes. GLANSIS is being developed as a NOAA Great Lakes node for the USGS NAS database – allowing access to enhanced features and search capacity for the Great Lakes specific invasive species information while seamlessly linking to the national database. The information will be published on the Web for ease of public access utilizing and expanding the Great Lakes relevant information on the USGS NAS database.

CY2006: Additional fact sheets for integration into the USGS NAS database were completed, increasing the total number of updated or new fact sheets to 37. A proposal to the Great Lakes Fishery Trust was funded that allows further expansion of the updated fact sheets – Dr. Anthony Ricciardi (McGill University) has been contracted to complete development of the Great Lakes series for the remaining Great Lakes priority species. The first of these, a fact sheet on Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) was expedited and is available in text format (see below for link). These will be integrated into the USGS NAS database during 2007. Programming work by USGS is underway and work on the NOAA side of the interface will be completed in early 2007.

Miscellaneous Activities

David Reid serves as the NOAA representative to the Great Lakes ANS Panel and is a member of the Research Committee. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Aquatic Invasive Species Network (CAISN).

Rochelle Sturtevant serves as the Sea Grant Extension representative to the ANS Panel on Aquatic Nuisance Species of the ANS Task Force, Chairs its committee on Information and Education and serves on the Panel’s Executive Committee.

Collaborators

Dr. Anthony Ricciardi (McGill University)
Ms. Pamela Fuller, U.S. Geological Survey