7 August 2024
Kia ora koutou
In this update - a $10 million funding boost to build on the technology development from the first phase of the accelerated programme; and reviewing the legal movement controls with CANs set to expire at the end of September.
Extra $10 million for the caulerpa fight
Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard has announced a further $10 million dollar funding injection to finance the ongoing development and testing of techniques to remove exotic caulerpa.
This is new investment on top of the $5 million boost earlier this year which funded the multi-project Accelerated Programme.
This programme enabled Biosecurity New Zealand, regional councils, mana whenua and communities to rapidly accelerate the development of technologies to find and remove exotic caulerpa.
The new funding will continue the momentum and build on what has been learned from the first phase of work, which showed that removing exotic caulerpa is possible, but it is not easy.
The $3.3 million large-scale mechanical suction dredging project in Omakiwi Cove in Northland made some significant advances, such as the ability to remove large amounts of sand from suctioned caulerpa and dispose of the waste, but further research and development is required.
One of the other projects, developing new surveillance and removal technologies, saw the successful development of cameras mounted on towed and remote-operated vehicles to find exotic caulerpa and identify it at the same time using artificial intelligence.
There are other promising technology developments that have been self-initiated by iwi, communities, scientists and others. All this effort needs to be built on. The additional funding will focus on technology development and trials to test these new tools.
There will be continued effort in campaigns to educate people on how they can avoid spreading caulerpa; support for community coordination; research to further understand the impacts of the pest; and targeted surveillance using tools developed in the first phase of our work.
This surveillance is particularly important as the sooner we can find new, small patches, the greater the chance of successful removal.
Biosecurity New Zealand will now work with the newly-formed Exotic Caulerpa National Advisory Group to help prioritise allocation of the funding, as well as considering the options for ongoing management.
Read the Minister’s press release here.
Future of Controlled Areas
In July we announced that a review of the Controlled Areas at Aotea Great Barrier Island/Ahuahu Great Mercury Island and Te Rāwhiti in the Bay of Islands was underway.
Biosecurity New Zealand is currently meeting with affected communities and groups to look at options for these Controlled Areas when they expire on 30 September.
There are two Controlled Area Notices (CANs) in effect currently – one covering exotic caulerpa areas at Aotea Great Barrier Island and Ahuahu Great Mercury Island combined, and the other for Te Rāwhiti Inlet in Northland.
These legal controls restrict activities that present a high risk of spreading exotic caulerpa – in particular, vessel anchoring and fishing.
While the CANs have helped reduce spread, they have also had considerable impacts on people, particularly those directly affected communities and how they go about their business, transport, food gathering and leisure.
We’re keen to see future measures that will still minimise spread by human activities but be easier to understand, less difficult for people to comply with, and have less impact on local communities.
We’re looking at two options for when the current CANs expire:
Similar to the status quo - a controlled area notice that has location-specific restrictions and/or requirements for affected areas. The locations under controls would be called Exotic Caulerpa High Risk Zones.
Having no exotic caulerpa controlled area notices at all.
Longer term, consideration is being given to creating a new regional CAN (Exotic Caulerpa Regional Controlled Area Notice) over the area of the North Island which has a suitable environment for exotic caulerpa to establish (the north-eastern coast from Cape Reinga to East Cape).
This CAN would require any vessels and equipment used for water-based activities within the area be cleaned of any seaweed before moving to a new location. This would not restrict anchoring or fishing activities outside of any specified Exotic Caulerpa High Risk Zones.
You can read more about the potential options here.
If you’d like to provide feedback on the options, you can take this short survey.
The survey closes at 5pm on Wednesday 21 August.
Exotic Caulerpa National Advisory Group
This 13-member group provides independent advice to guide the on-going management of exotic caulerpa and oversee the development of a national strategy and response approach.
The Terms of Reference for the group and the minutes of their first meeting on 12 June 2024 are now on the Biosecurity New Zealand caulerpa web page:
Exotic Caulerpa National Advisory Group Terms of Reference
Minutes of Exotic Caulerpa National Advisory Group 12 June 2024
Nāku noa, nā
The Caulerpa response team
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For more information about exotic caulerpa seaweeds in New Zealand visit the Ministry for Primary Industries Biosecurity New Zealand website.