Environmental Effects

Environmental Effects of Ship's Ballast Water Discharges on Marine Ecosystems

Case Study of Mnemiopsis Leidyi in Caspian Sea

Mansoor Kiani Moghadam

 Chabahar Maritime University

 Amir Saeed Nooramin

Nasrin Atabak

 Khoramshahr University of Marine Science and Technology

Abstract

The annual statistics show that large amounts of water containing living micro-organisms are transported around the world by ship's ballast water tanks. The water is then discharged over the ships environments sometimes more than thousand kilometres away from their origin.

Respect to the incursion of Mnemiopsis leidyito Caspian Sea and its environmental effects on fishing and fish resources, economy and tourism, the fast response to this environmental disaster is kept at the top of agenda which demands national and regional cooperation.

Firstly, this paper studies the ship's ballast water system and its related laws and conventions. Secondly, a brief discussion has been provided on the effects of incursion of different micro and macro organisms on the coastal countries all around the world. This paper focuses on Caspian Sea environment and, in particular, the Mnemiopsis leidyi. The main objective of this research is to propose different legal, marine, and environmental solutions for reducing the effects of the Mnemiopsis leidyiincursion in Caspian Sea.

Keywords: Ballast Water, Marine Ecosystems, Environment,Mnemiopsis leidyi, Caspian Sea