Estimation of the introduction risk of non-indigenous species through ship ballast water in the Port of Douala (Cameroon)

Abstract

The transport of non-indigenous species in ship's ballast water represents a threat to marine biodiversity. This study is the first on marine bioinvasion in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Port of Douala (PoD), located in the Gulf of Guinea, is experiencing increasing maritime traffic, hence the importance of preventing biological invasions. PoD received ballast water from 41 ports and 20 ecoregions during the study period (2018-2021). We used a biological invasion model and showed that ships from the ports of Antwerp, Durban, Dar es Salaam, Pointe-Noire (Southern Gulf of Guinea) and Dakar (Sahelian Upwelling), with their associated ecoregions present a major invasion risk. Treating ballast water from these ships to IMO D-2 standards could reduce their probability of biological invasion by 97.18, 98.43, 98.80, 98.77 and 98.84 %, respectively. Climate change may also mitigate the risk of biological invasion, particularly for ships in the North Sea ecoregion from the port of Antwerp.

Keywords: Ballast water; Biological invasion; Cameroon; Douala; Maritime traffic; Modeling; Risk assessment.