Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Archeologists, historians and divers are trying to digitally capture more than 1,000 shipwrecks at the bottom of the Great Lakes before they become unrecognizable after a combination of invasive mussels and climate change have accelerated their deterioration at an alarming rate. The Great Lakes region is known among diving circles as one of the best places in the world to explore shipwrecks because the cold, fresh water offers ideal conditions for their preservation, even in shallow water.
Transport Canada, the government entity dealing with maritime regulations and policies, will accept applications for research funding from Canadian vessel owners, operators, Canadian Port Authorities, not-for-profit organisations, public sector organisations and academia. Vessels need to use a ballast water management system (BWMS) to comply with the regulations and reduce the risk of introducing and spreading aquatic invasive species in Canada.
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra committed $12.5 million in funding Wednesday to launch the Ballast Water Innovation Program aimed at keeping invasive species out of the Great Lakes. “This is done under the Oceans Protection Plan which has been the largest investment that Canada has ever made in protecting our oceans and waterways,” Alghabra said.
The Federal Maritime Commission is seeking more information as it investigates the potential impact of Canadian environmental regulations on U.S. shipping companies operating in the Great Lakes. Nearly two years ago, the Lake Carriers’ Association filed a complaint with the commission that Canadian rules for ballast water would harm their operations. The trade association wanted to slap a $300,000 fee on any Canadian vessel entering a U.S. port. Ballast water helps ships balance their loads. But it can also transfer invasive species between water bodies. The commission wants more information on how the finalized Canadian regulations might affect U.S. ships.
Last week Canada issued new rules requiring all vessels stopping at Canadian ports to have ballast water treatment systems in place by 2030. While this may seem like a niche issue, reports have shown us that ships contribute to the introduction and spread of destructive aquatic invasive species through the discharge of ballast water. Once species such as zebra and quagga mussels set up camp, they devastate the natural food chain and can lead to dangerous algae growth, which causes substantial environmental and economic harm to the Great Lakes and waters all across the country.
The Ottawa, Canada, headquartered Chamber of Marine Commerce doesn’t like new ballast water regulations released by Transport Canada. In fact, Its president and CEO, Bruce Burrows, calls them “a half-baked solution.” The Chamber says the new regulations “unfairly target Canadian ship operators—who have spent billions of dollars on new fuel-efficient, eco-ships—while giving an extra six years for compliance to owners of older vessels, including those of virtually all U.S. ships operating in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence inland waterway.” The Chamber says this “creates an unlevel playing field between Canadian and U.S. domestic fleets (which operate virtually all older vessels) and discourages further investment in new, more fuel-efficient ships that produce significantly lower greenhouse gases.”
