Bay of Plenty keeps tight focus on detection and control

Thanks to an ongoing program of surveillance and control, and a dive team that spends more than 5,000 hours in the water each year, Bay of Plenty is one of the regions still largely untouched by marine pests like Mediterranean fanworm.

As part of the ongoing Tauranga Moana harbour surveillance, a large number of juvenile Mediterranean fanworm (Sabella spallanzanii)  were discovered by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council marine biosecurity team on the bottom of a boat on a swing mooring. All of the region’s harbours are currently free of permanent infestations of Mediterranean fanworm so its vitally important that any boats moving into the region’s waters have clean hulls. In this instance the boat was lifted out, scrapped down, treated and returned to the water. 

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