Unintended Consequences of a Clean Regulation: How the U.S. Ballast Water Act Led to Transboundary Invasion of Alien Species

Fabien Candau (), Florian Lafferrere and Julie Schlick ()
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Fabien Candau: TREE - Transitions Energétiques et Environnementales - UPPA - Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Florian Lafferrere: TREE - Transitions Energétiques et Environnementales - UPPA - Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Julie Schlick: RITM - Réseaux Innovation Territoires et Mondialisation - Université Paris-Saclay

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Abstract: We study the transboundary ecological incidence of the U.S. Ballast Water Management Act (2012), which requires vessels to exchange coastal ballast water in the open ocean before entering U.S. ports. Using particle tracking through ocean currents, we trace where organisms released during mid-ocean exchange drift along Caribbean and Pacific coastlines. Coastlines that receive more of those organisms record significantly more invasive species after 2012. We also find that more species arrive, more of them become common, and no single species dominates.

Keywords: Caribbean; Particle tracking; Ocean currents; Transboundary externalities; Maritime trade; Environmental regulation; ballast water; invasive species (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-06-12
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