26 August 2021 – The Marine Environmental Protection Force- Central Visayas (MEPFORCE CV) thru its Marine Science Technician- Central Visayas (MST-CV) together with partner academe and the co-implementing agency conducted the “Port and Ballast Water Baselines using Ecological, Microbiological and eDNA Approaches” (PORTEC) in Cebu International Port, Pier 6, Cebu City. This joint endeavor is in compliance with the Ballast Water Management Convention of 2004 (BWMC). Due to the high influx of inbound foreign vessels, CIP was selected as one of the international ports in the Philippines to be studied which is vulnerable to the possible transfer of Marine Non-Indigenous Species (MNIS). The team was deployed in different established sampling points covering the whole CIP area. The collector will be inspected and monitored weekly, as well as retrieval every two (2) months for PICES sample collection for the identification and classification of marine organisms and water sampling for eDNA and Metagenomics analysis.

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