Coherence of marine alien species biosecurity legislation: A study of England and Wales. (December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shannon, Caitriona; Quinn, Claire H.; Dunn, Alison M.; Stebbing, Paul D.
• Is Part Of: Marine pollution bulletin. Volume 161:Part B(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Subjects: Legislation -- Policy -- Biosecurity -- Invasive alien species -- Policy analysis; Marine pollution -- Periodicals; Marine Biology -- Periodicals; Water Pollution -- Periodicals; Mer -- Pollution -- Périodiques; Publications périodiques; Pollution des mers; Lutte antipollution; Electronic journals; 363.7394
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111796
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0025-326X

Abstract

Abstract: The marine environment is particularly at risk from the intentional and unintentional introduction and spread of invasive alien species (IAS); preventing their introduction and spread from occurring is therefore, a key component in the on-going management of marine IAS. Ensuring legislation is coherent and consistent is essential to the success of managing the existing and future impacts of marine IAS. We explore the coherence (determined as consistency and interaction) of marine biosecurity legislation for IAS at different geopolitical scales. There was consistency between both the Bern Convention and Convention on Biological Diversity and European and national legislation that had been created in response. There was a lack of interaction evidenced by the Ballast Water Management Convention, which had not yet been transposed into regional (mainly European) or national legislation. Implementation measures such as legislation should be coherent as any failure in the chain could potentially weaken the overall effort to establish and maintain biosecurity and achieve behaviour change. Highlights: Policy analysis is used to provide insight into the relationship between policies for managing the pathways of marine non-native species. New emerging pathway specific policy documents lacked horizontal consistency and interaction. Voluntary codes of conduct should complement but not replace regulatory instruments.