Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/893950
maltatoday SUNDAY 29 OCTOBER 2017 News MASSIMO COSTA A new large-scale study has dis- covered twelve new alien species in Maltese waters, the largest number from all the countries studied. The research, published this month in a paper entitled "A mas- sive update of non-indigenous species records in Mediterra- nean marinas", is the first major comprehensive study of the en- tire Mediterranean sea, which is a popularly known alien species hot-spot. A total of 51 such species have been discovered. The study also discovered three completely new non-indigenous species which were previously not known to have invaded the sea, which is a significant finding considering how well-studied the Mediterranean already is. The research involved the sam- pling of 600 boat hulls from 34 yacht marinas across Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Greece, Tur- key and Cyprus, with the Maltese yacht marinas sampled in Msida and in the Grand Harbour area. Alan Deidun, Associate Profes- sor of Geosciences at the Uni- versity of Malta and one of the co-authors of the paper, said that the focus has traditionally been on commercial shipping as the main route through which alien species are introduced into the Mediterra- nean. This study, however, focuses on recreational vessels berthed in yacht marinas, and, importantly, recognises this as a new route of invasion. "Through this pan-Mediterrane- an study, we have identified yacht marinas catering for recreations vessels, as stepping stones for the invasion of marine aliens species," Deidun said. He explained that the findings had implication for the manage- ment of alien species, especially since the EU was moving towards attempting to control the intro- duction of non-indigenous sea creatures. Some alien species be- come invasive and displace local indigenous species, while others do not have a negative effect and add to the Mediterranean's biodi- versity. There are an estimated 1.5 mil- lion recreational boats in the Med- iterranean, he said, and so it would be difficult to counter the effects such massive traffic volumes had on introducing foreign species. "Anti-fouling paint on yachts are to an extent effective in preventing sub-aquatic organisms from stick- ing to the hull, although they don't completely eradicate the problem. However, other objects in yacht marinas, such a buoys, do not have anti-fouling paint applied to them. One measure which might be con- sidered is cleaning buoys once a year," he added. mcosta@mediatoday.com.mt Twelve non-indigenous species discovered in Maltese waters Not from these parts: the small tube-forming Hydroides elegans worm Large-scale study which sampled 600 boat hulls across the Mediterranean identified a total of 51 new alien species