Wisconsin vs. Fish Ebola: New rules protect the Great Lakes ecosystem

Door County, Wisconsin is famous for their fish boils. We are talking about massive kettles of Lake Michigan white fish with potatoes, onions and the perfect spices boiling in giant bonfires on the beach. Yum, it's a great tradition that has become central to the area's identity and economy as a tourist magnet. But it's a tradition that has been threatened by invasive species, like alewives and round gobies, which have been crowding out the local fish species for decades. Even scarier is the threat of VHS, viral hemorrhagic septicemia, which has been called "fish ebola" and has already appeared in some of the Great Lakes.

But yesterday, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources took a big step to help protect that tradition when they announced new regulations requiring oceangoing vessels to begin treating their ballast water to prevent invasive species from being discharged into the Great Lakes. To date, 65% of the invasive species that have been introduced into the Great Lakes since the Saint Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959 have been attributed to oceangoing ships. This biological pollution takes a massive toll on the Great Lakes economy, costing over $200 million a year.

And so, Wisconsin joins a growing list of states in recognizing that the only effective way to fight invasive species is to keep them out in the first place. 

NRDC has been heavily engaged in national efforts to force the EPA and the Coast Guard to act quickly to adopt a strong federal standard that further strengthens protections for the Great Lakes.  We have appeared in court alongside Great Lakes states such as Michigan and New York that have stepped up to the plate in the federal government's absence with their own ballast water protections.  In fact, on Monday I will in Albany, New York, to help the New York Attorney General's Office defend the appeal of our successful defense of New York's ballast water rules.

NRDC applauds Wisconsin DNR for having the political courage to finalize these much-needed ballast water regulations.  Sure, there are aspects of their law that we would like to see strengthened, but this represents real progress toward slamming the door on invasive species in the Great Lakes.  It's long past time for the federal government to show leadership by creating a stronger national standard that will raise the bar even further. It is going to take more work to protect the Great Lakes ecosystem and fish stocks.

Don't they care about fish boils?

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