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This report offers recommendations to improve biosecurity measures at U.S. ports, as well as a possible funding mechanism based upon the polluter-pays principle.

Dumping anything out of an aquarium—fish, animals, and plants—can have devastating consequences for natural waterbodies. This is true for both freshwater and saltwater aquariums. Never dump them into a natural body of water or flush them down the toilet.

Ohio State University Extension has released a new app for spotting and tracking invasive species -- non-native organisms such as Asian carps, purple loosestrife and Asian longhorned beetle -- to try to keep them from setting up beachheads and hurting the economy and environment. By using the free Great Lakes Early Detection Network app, a person can take pictures of suspected invasive species -- whether of farm, forest or water -- and upload the pictures and locations for verification. Based on this early warning, scientists can send out alerts, map the spread and figure out a battle plan.

Members of the $689-billion outdoor recreation industry have established a blue-ribbon commission to stop and reverse the spread of aquatic invasive species in the U.S. The commission will bring together leading biologists, environmentalists, policymakers, and resource managers to assess existing mitigation efforts and identify more effective eradication solutions. Findings from the analysis will be presented to Congress and the administration in 2023, with a goal of passing comprehensive legislation to better manage and eliminate aquatic invasive species.

Interactions between invasive species and climate change present new challenges for resource management. Prior to a new study by NE CASC fellow Evelyn Beaury and her collaborators, however, it was unclear what the common concerns, strategies, limitations, and research needs were for managing invasive species in a changing climate. In their nationwide survey of invasive species managers from government, non-profit, and private organizations, Beaury's team found that while the majority of managers are very concerned about the influence of climate change on invasive species management, the organizations they represent are typically far less engaged with this issue. This study illustrates that the complicating challenge of climate change may open a new avenue for elevating the efficiency and success of current invasive species management efforts if a collaborative approach is adopted in this area.

ITP, in collaboration with Pollinator Partnership, is pleased to release The BeeMD at idtools.org. The BeeMD will help beekeepers and others concerned with bees quickly identify honey bee health issues (including colony collapse disorder), through an interactive, visually rich, informative, and easy to use website. This release includes much of the content from the original website first published in 2016. On this new platform, the “visual key” has been completely restructured and streamlined, and the entire website redesigned and expanded, offering additional informational, visual, and supportive content.

Aquatic invasive species inflict millions of dollars of ecological and economic damage to the Great Lakes, with impacts on coastal industries, water quality, native fish and wildlife and human health. Recently, Blue Accounting, in partnership with state and federal agencies, launched a new suite of web-based resources and tools to support early detection of aquatic invasive species in the Great Lakes. The earlier new aquatic invasive species are detected, the easier and less expensive it is to avoid potentially devastating consequences of a large invasion. The new tools released by the Blue Accounting initiative help target efforts to focus on high-risk species and locations across the 11,000 miles of shoreline and 94,000 miles of surface area that make up the Great Lakes basin.

The mission of the New York Invasive Species Awareness Week (June 3-9, 2024) is to promote knowledge and understanding of invasive species and the harm they can cause by engaging citizens in a wide range of activities across the state, and empowering them to take action to help stop the spread. This annual education campaign is comprised of various outreach initiatives and events led by partner organizations statewide. Activities include interpretive hikes, invasive plant removal, and restoration projects, displays, webinars, radio and television programming, and more.