President Clinton has signed an executive order to coordinate federal strategy. Federal agencies are directed to review their existing authorities. The order also creates an Invasive Species Council, to develop a comprehensive plan to minimize the economic, ecological, and human health impacts of invasive species and determine further steps to prevent their introduction and spread. At the First National Conference on Marine Bioinvasions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sea Grant College in January, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt pointed out that marine bioinvasions have large consequences for the nation's health, food supply, economy, and fishing industry. He warned of their threat of degradation and homogenization of coastal waters everywhere.
Many exotic species arrive in U.S. waters from elsewhere in the world.
But the Spartina choking the state of Washington's Willapa Bay, as well as Atlantic shad and other fish threatening native species in San Francisco Bay, come from the U.S. East Coast. We also export harmful species. Leidy's comb jelly, carried in ballast water from the U.S. to the Black Sea and lacking any predator, created one of the most intense marine invasions ever recorded. As ships become larger and faster the opportunities for alien species to gain transport and survive the trip are multiplied, up to a hundredfold on some routes. At the MIT conference, which had several co-sponsors, scientists, managers and industry representatives illuminated the complexities of trying to prevent or control marine bioinvaders.