Australian government releases updated response plans
The Australian government has released a new manual for response to invasive ascidians.
The purpose of this manual is to serve as a reference of technical information required for managing emergency responses to invasive ascidians, and to provide guidance in a response, because emergency response operations are most effective if they are based on detailed knowledge of the pest’s life history, biology and ecology, an understanding of vectors for introduction and spread, and appropriate methods of surveillance, containment, control and/or eradication.
The Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) maintains the series of response manuals to ensure national coordination of emergency responses to incursions by exotic pests and diseases or significant range expansions of established pests and endemic diseases.
As part of the EMPPlan series, most marine pest response manuals have transitioned from focusing on individual pest species to taxonomic groups of invasive marine animals or plants.
The ascidian manual is the fourth in a series of manuals as part of MarinePestPlan 2018-2023 activity 3.5 ‘Plan and implement procedures to develop and update the EMPPlan response manuals and related guidance materials.’