The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are jointly requesting proposals for ballast water technology demonstration projects. Nearly $2.1 million, and/or the use of MARAD’s Ready Reserve Force ships as test platforms, will be made available for successful proposals. Interested parties may apply for funding, for use of a vessel, or both. Every day, large quantities of ballast water from areas all around the world are discharged from ships into the waters of the United States. In this ballast water are plants, animals, bacteria and pathogens that are not native to our nation’s ecosystems. Some of these organisms are microscopic; others may be large plants or free-swimming fish.