To facilitate carrying out the ballast water control program, the 

 Act encourages the task force to enter into negotiations and cooper- 

 ative efforts with foreign countries. In July of this year, the Inter- 

 national Maritime Organization's Marine Environmental Protec- 

 tion Committee initiated discussion of harmful marine organisms 

 in ballast water. At the Coast Guard's request, NOAA submitted a 

 paper on the task force's activities and was represented on the U.S. 

 delegation. The committee recommended a formal working group 

 be convened on the issue to consider further developing IMO's vol- 

 untary ballEist water guidelines as the basis for an annex to the 

 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from 

 Ships (MARPOL 73/78). The task force will continue to work with 

 IMO on this important issue. 



The committee also recommended an international ballast water 

 sjrmposium be convened. The Coast Guard has approached NOAA 

 regarding sponsorship. We would like to carry out this sjnnposium 

 as a task force effort, and are working with Australia regarding 

 dual sponsorship. 



In April of this year, NOAA sponsored an international work- 

 shop to identify appropriate management and research activities 

 for estuarine and marine areas. Five countries were represented. It 

 was an excellent forum for assessing our current understanding of 

 the global effects of exotic species. Workshop results and an over- 

 view of task force activities are being presented to the Internation- 

 al Conference on the Environmental Management of Enclosed 

 Coastal Seas. 



In addition to the ballast water program, the Act requires devel- 

 opment of an aquatic nuisance species program. The program has 

 completed public review and is expected to be approved at the t£isk 

 force's November meeting. The task force is using the control proc- 

 ess outlined in the program to deal with introduction of ruffe to 

 the Great Lakes. The task force determined a study was warranted 

 of ruffe and convened a meeting to develop a control program. 

 Upon completion of the program's environmental assessment, the 

 program vnll then be released for public review. 



In addition to control, research is the key element of the ANS 

 program. The Act requires the task force to establish a protocol for 

 evaluating research. The protocol was issued as an interim docu- 

 ment in September 1992 and will be modified as new data become 

 available. 



NOAA and EPA funded a workshop at NOAA's Great Lakes lab 

 to assist the task force protocol committee in evaluating zebra 

 mussel research protocols. Assistance and education are additional 

 elements of the program. NOAA's National Sea Grant College Pro- 

 gram is providing extensive educational and technical assistance 

 through its State offices and marine advisory services. 



The zebra mussel information clearinghouse, with which you 

 may be familiar, is a project of New York's Sea Grant. Sea Grant's 

 network of researchers and extension agents are developing control 

 methods and communicating these results to local communities. 

 The Fish and Wildlife Service has also been developing educational 

 materials in cooperation with State agencies. 



The final program element is the zebra mussel demonstration 

 program. The Army Corps of Engineers is actively engaged in re- 



