Public Data Portal: Shipping and Invasions Biology

In addition to collecting and analyzing data on ship arrivals, ballast water delivery, and ballast water management, the NBIC and broader Marine Invasions Research laboratory conducts field research such as sampling ballast water tanks for zooplankton and phytoplankton, collecting samples from ships' hulls, and yearly port surveys of marine, estuarine, and aquatic species. This research allows the NBIC program, SERC scientists, and US Coast Guard to document, understand, and characterize patterns of marine invasions across space, time, and taxonomic groups, help predict the establishment, spread, and impact of non-indigenous species in marine ecosystems, evaluate the efficacy of ballast water management and species control strategies to limit their establishment and impact, and better inform state and federal agencies about the state of invasive species in US waters. The NBIC ballast water management data are available to the public through a searchable online database, while the life history and locations of marine and estuarine non-indigenous species in the United States and other countries are available through the NEMESIS database, which draws from NBIC and Marine Invasion laboratory field research as well as from an extensive literature library.

Note: All data available in graphs and tables extend through the last complete month and are refreshed monthly. Because ballast water management reports may be amended, corrected or changed during quality control processes, particularly within the 20 days from arrival date for the last complete month, this may result in updates that will register when the data are next refreshed. All data are subject to change and use of any of the NBIC data implies agreement with the NBIC Data Use Agreement policy. Cite our data.

This section presents cumulative annual data from the NEMESIS database and from the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database on the introduction of Non-indigenous Species (NIS) invertebrates and algae (excluding fishes and plants) into US waters from 1990 to present day. These data are presented at the national scale and regionally to and examine the possible vector(s) of introduction as they relate to commercial shipping.

At the national scale, commercial shipping vectors such as ballast water, hull fouling, or the combination of both, are possible vectors for ~74% of US marine and estuarine NIS introductions based on their biology and invasion history. Similarly, within each region NIS introductions are highly associated with commercial shipping and follow similar patterns, even if the actual numbers of NIS species differ. For many NIS introductions, their life histories enable them to be possibly transported by multiple shipping associated vectors. For instance, an organism like the striped barnacle has a larval life stage that is easily transported as zooplankton taken up inside ballast tanks, whereas adults can cling to the hull of a vessel as it moves throughout the oceans. Other methods of NIS introduction include aquarium and pet trades, fisheries, mariculture activities, live bait trade, nursery trades in wetland species, and recreational vessels. For some species, such as the green crab, these vectors are an additional possible method of transport besides ballast water and hull fouling.

Chart Directions

These interactive figures present the cumulative number of NIS introduced into the United States by shipping vector or combination of vectors annually from 1990 through the present day. There are 4 charts; the 'National' chart represents all data for all US regions, while the remaining 3 display data for each marine and estuarine coastal region (East, Gulf, and West) from the NEMESIS database. To tailor your query and figure, you may select or deselect the possible vector categories in the interactive legends underneath each chart. These categories include:

BW=Ballast Water only
HF=Hull Fouling only
BW+HF=Ballast Water and Hull Fouling possible
Other=Other non-shipping vectors only
BW+Other=Ballast Water and Other vectors possible
HF+Other=Hull Fouling and Other vectors possible
BW+HF+Other=Ballast Water, Hull Fouling, and Other vectors all possible

To determine the role of each vector, you must make multiple selections.

To examine the number of species likely introduced by ballast water, select all categories that include "BW" in the legend and deselect any categories that do not include "BW." This will show the total number of species that could have been transported by ballast water over time.
To investigate the number of species likely introduced by hull fouling, select all categories that include "HF" and deselect any category that does not include "HF." This will show the total number of species that could have been transported by hull fouling over time.
To examine all species likely introduced by commercial shipping in general, the six categories that have "BW" and/or "HF" within must be selected, and only the "Other" category is deselected.

You can zoom and pan interactively in the figure. To select a range in the number of species in the chart, hold down the left mouse button and drag the arrow up and down the graph. The figure and data can be exported using the 'Export Chart' menu in the upper right corner of the figure. Below the figures is a data table that can be exported in different formats for all data used in these figures.

NIS Vector Data Table

The full dataset for NIS and Shipping Vectors is available in this table. You may download the table by clicking on the formats at the top right of the table.

Non-indigenous Species: Vectors and Regions

Year	Region	BW Only	BW+HF	HF Only	BW+Other	HF+Other	BW+HF+Other	Other
1990	East Coast	6	24	27	12	10	9	75
1991	East Coast	6	24	28	12	10	10	78
1992	East Coast	6	26	28	13	10	10	81
1993	East Coast	6	26	28	13	10	10	81
1994	East Coast	6	27	29	13	10	10	81
1995	East Coast	6	29	30	14	10	11	82
1996	East Coast	6	33	30	14	10	11	83
1997	East Coast	6	34	30	14	10	11	83
1998	East Coast	6	37	30	14	10	12	84
1999	East Coast	6	40	30	15	10	12	86
2000	East Coast	6	40	32	15	10	12	91
2001	East Coast	7	42	33	15	10	13	91
2002	East Coast	7	45	34	15	10	14	92
2003	East Coast	7	46	34	15	10	15	95
2004	East Coast	7	46	37	16	10	15	96
2005	East Coast	7	47	37	16	10	16	96
2006	East Coast	7	48	37	16	10	16	97
2007	East Coast	7	50	37	17	10	16	99
2008	East Coast	7	50	37	18	10	16	100
2009	East Coast	7	51	38	18	10	17	102
2010	East Coast	8	51	40	18	10	17	102
2011	East Coast	8	52	40	18	10	17	102
2012	East Coast	8	52	40	18	10	17	102
2013	East Coast	9	55	41	18	10	17	103
2014	East Coast	10	55	41	18	10	17	103
2015	East Coast	10	55	41	18	10	17	104
2016	East Coast	10	55	41	18	10	17	104
2017	East Coast	10	57	41	18	10	17	104
2018	East Coast	10	57	42	18	10	17	105
2019	East Coast	10	58	42	18	10	17	105
2020	East Coast	10	58	42	18	10	17	106
2021	East Coast	10	58	42	18	10	17	107
1990	Gulf Coast	4	16	11	4	5	2	29
1991	Gulf Coast	4	16	12	4	5	2	29
1992	Gulf Coast	4	17	12	4	5	2	29
1993	Gulf Coast	4	19	12	4	5	2	30
1994	Gulf Coast	4	19	12	5	5	2	31
1995	Gulf Coast	4	19	12	6	5	2	31
1996	Gulf Coast	4	21	12	6	5	2	35
1997	Gulf Coast	4	23	12	6	5	2	35
1998	Gulf Coast	4	23	12	6	5	2	37
1999	Gulf Coast	5	26	13	7	5	3	38
2000	Gulf Coast	5	26	14	7	5	3	39
2001	Gulf Coast	5	26	14	7	5	4	39
2002	Gulf Coast	5	27	15	7	5	4	39
2003	Gulf Coast	5	27	15	8	5	5	40
2004	Gulf Coast	5	31	16	8	5	5	41
2005	Gulf Coast	5	32	16	8	5	5	41
2006	Gulf Coast	5	35	17	8	5	5	43
2007	Gulf Coast	5	35	17	8	5	5	43
2008	Gulf Coast	5	35	17	8	5	5	43
2009	Gulf Coast	5	35	17	8	5	6	44
2010	Gulf Coast	5	35	17	8	5	6	44
2011	Gulf Coast	5	35	17	8	5	6	44
2012	Gulf Coast	5	36	17	8	5	6	45
2013	Gulf Coast	5	36	17	8	5	7	45
2014	Gulf Coast	5	36	18	8	5	7	45
2015	Gulf Coast	6	36	18	8	5	8	45
2016	Gulf Coast	6	36	18	8	5	8	46
2017	Gulf Coast	6	37	18	9	5	8	46
2018	Gulf Coast	6	38	18	9	5	8	46
2019	Gulf Coast	6	39	18	9	5	8	46
2020	Gulf Coast	6	39	18	9	5	8	46
1990	West Coast	16	21	21	19	34	56	93
1991	West Coast	18	22	22	19	34	57	93
1992	West Coast	21	22	22	20	34	57	93
1993	West Coast	25	24	22	20	36	59	95
1994	West Coast	25	25	22	20	39	59	96
1995	West Coast	26	25	22	22	40	60	96
1996	West Coast	27	26	22	22	40	60	96
1997	West Coast	28	27	22	24	41	60	101
1998	West Coast	28	29	22	24	41	61	102
1999	West Coast	28	30	22	25	41	61	105
2000	West Coast	28	33	23	26	44	64	105
2001	West Coast	29	38	25	27	44	64	105
2002	West Coast	29	38	25	29	44	64	106
2003	West Coast	29	40	26	29	45	64	113
2004	West Coast	32	42	28	29	45	64	113
2005	West Coast	32	42	28	31	45	64	113
2006	West Coast	32	43	28	31	45	64	113
2007	West Coast	32	43	28	32	46	65	113
2008	West Coast	32	43	30	33	46	65	113
2009	West Coast	32	44	30	34	46	66	113
2010	West Coast	32	45	30	34	46	67	113
2011	West Coast	32	45	31	34	47	68	113
2012	West Coast	32	45	32	34	48	68	114
2013	West Coast	32	45	33	34	49	68	114
2014	West Coast	32	45	33	34	49	68	114
2015	West Coast	32	46	33	34	49	68	114
2016	West Coast	32	47	34	34	49	68	115
2017	West Coast	32	47	35	34	49	68	117
2018	West Coast	33	47	36	34	49	68	117
2019	West Coast	33	47	36	34	49	68	117
2020	West Coast	33	47	36	34	49	68	117
1990	All Coasts	22	45	41	30	38	59	148
1991	All Coasts	24	46	43	30	38	61	151
1992	All Coasts	27	47	43	32	38	61	153
1993	All Coasts	31	49	43	32	39	63	155
1994	All Coasts	31	51	43	33	41	63	157
1995	All Coasts	32	52	44	36	42	65	158
1996	All Coasts	33	56	44	36	42	65	161
1997	All Coasts	34	58	44	38	43	65	163
1998	All Coasts	34	61	44	38	43	66	167
1999	All Coasts	34	65	45	38	43	67	172
2000	All Coasts	34	68	48	39	46	70	178
2001	All Coasts	35	74	51	40	46	71	178
2002	All Coasts	35	76	52	42	46	71	180
2003	All Coasts	35	79	53	42	47	72	189
2004	All Coasts	37	84	56	43	47	72	190
2005	All Coasts	37	84	56	45	47	73	190
2006	All Coasts	37	87	57	45	47	73	192
2007	All Coasts	37	89	57	46	48	74	192
2008	All Coasts	37	89	58	48	48	74	192
2009	All Coasts	37	91	59	49	48	76	194
2010	All Coasts	38	91	61	49	48	77	194
2011	All Coasts	38	92	62	49	49	78	194
2012	All Coasts	38	93	63	49	50	78	196
2013	All Coasts	39	93	65	49	51	79	196
2014	All Coasts	39	93	66	49	51	79	196
2015	All Coasts	39	94	66	49	51	80	197
2016	All Coasts	39	95	67	49	51	80	199
2017	All Coasts	39	97	68	50	51	80	200
2018	All Coasts	40	97	69	50	51	80	201
2019	All Coasts	40	97	69	50	51	80	201
2020	All Coasts	40	97	69	50	51	80	201
2021	All Coasts	40	97	69	50	51	80	202

Chart Directions

Cumulative number of NIS introduced into US waters over time by region: National (All Coasts), US East, Gulf, and West Coasts

NIS Vector Data Table