Completion of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway 50 years ago linked ports on all five of the Laurentian Great Lakes to the global shipping trade. The Seaway increased international trade in the Great Lakes region but there were tradeoffs, mostly due to transoceanic freighters inadvertently importing aquatic invasive species via ballast water discharges. In this session, I examine the role of public policy in preventing transoceanic vessels from importing invasive species into the lakes during the Seaways first 50 years. I will discuss efforts by government agencies in the U.S. and Canada to address this problem and missed opportunities to slow the rate of aquatic invasive species entering the lakes via the ballast water vector. Finally, I will explain why the number of shipborne aquatic invasive species discovered in the Great Lakes increased after the U.S. and Canada passed laws designed to stem the tide of invaders. Keywords: Invasive species, Ballast, Policy making.

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