Terms of Reference

National Peer Review

Alternate Ballast Water Exchange Zones for vessel traffic to Newfoundland and the Arctic

Freshwater Institute, Winnipeg, MB

13-14 January 2009

Chairperson: Patrice Simon

Transport Canada (TC) has requested scientifically defensible advice as the basis for national ballast water regulations for ships in ballast heading for ports in Newfoundland, Hudson Strait and the Canadian waters of the Beaufort Sea. TC provided support to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) for undertaking a peer review process during 2005-2006 and working papers were developed for the three areas. The purpose of this meeting is to peer-review the conclusions presented in the working papers and to provide advice on alternative ballast water exchange sites.

Background

DFO held a National meeting 30 November – 1 December 2004 in Montreal, to peer review alternate ballast water exchange zone reports for the Laurentian Channel, Scotian Shelf & Gulf of Maine Region, and Pacific. General recommendations regarding ballast water and specific recommendations for regional alternative ballast water exchange zones on the east and west coasts and the Laurentian Channel were developed. The information reviewed at the meeting was instrumental in the efforts of TC to develop effective ballast water management regulations under the Canada Shipping Act. The identification of sites for vessel traffic to Newfoundland and the Arctic would make a more complete regime that could provide alternatives for all traffic to Canada.

Objectives

A DFO hosted National Peer Review is being held to review the working papers developed for Newfoundland, Hudson Strait and the Beaufort Sea. Invited participants will receive copies of the draft discussion papers approximately two weeks prior to the meeting.

The ballast water exchange zone working papers will address both vessel traffic to Newfoundland and the Arctic and focus on the following:

• Discuss/describe any alternative ballast water exchange zones that already have been identified by other government departments or agencies;
• Evaluate the risks that the identified zones may pose to fisheries resources and to the marine ecosystem; and
• Identify and rationalize other zones that may pose a lower risk to fisheries resources and to the marine ecosystem. This element could include port specific strategies.

The objective of this meeting is to peer review the conclusions presented in the working papers and to provide advice on alternative ballast water exchange sites

Products

The meeting will generate a proceedings report summarizing the deliberations of the participants. This will be published in the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) Proceedings Series. The working papers will be revised based on the comments received during the peer review meeting and the final versions of the three papers will be published in the [CSAS] Research Document series. The science advice resulting from the meeting will be published as a Science Advisory Report on the CSAS website.

Participants

Participants will include experts from DFO Science and other sectors, Transport Canada, Environment Canada, provincial and territorial governments, industry, academia, consultants, corporation and coalition.