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The relatively uninvaded coastline of Alaska currently faces a heightened risk of novel biological introductions as a result of increasing regional vessel traffic, emerging Arctic trade routes, and proposed coastal and nearshore development. Alaska currently receives the majority of its ballast water discharge in the port of Valdez (86%), largely from crude oil tankers engaged in coastwise trade. These crude oil tankers were exempted from managing and reporting ballast water prior to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s 2008 Vessel General Permit (VGP). Here we present a comprehensive statewide risk assessment of ballast-borne marine invasive species throughout coastal Alaska, and the first study to characterize the risk from the ballast water vector following inclusion of ballast water reporting by the VGP. We examined ballast water discharge volume, environmental similarity between source and discharge regions, ballast water age, and marine invasive species richness in source regions annually from 2009 – 2012 for the top 15 ports/discharge locations in Alaska. The majority (80%) of the more than 54 million metric tons of reported ballast water discharged during this time period was sourced from the west coast of North America, including highly invaded port systems such as San Francisco Bay, California and Puget Sound, Washington. Overall about 38% of the ballast water discharged to our focus locations was managed using ballast water exchange. We conclude that the risk of invasion is highest for the ports of Valdez and Drift River Terminal and lowest for the ports of Klawock, Skagway, and Tolstoi Bay. This analysis and risk matrix can inform further fine-scale assessments of ballast water management activity and identify areas of Alaska most likely to benefit from focused management efforts.

Ballast-borne marine invasive species: exploring the risk to coastal Alaska, USA