More training for marine farmers supports early detection of pests and diseases

Our country’s aquaculture farmers are leading the way at incorporating marine biosecurity into their day-to-day operations. 

Making sure that all workers can identify marine pests and report them is a big part of this and through its A+ Sustainability Programme, Aquaculture NZ is running workshops throughout the country to help staff and teams understand the principles of marine biosecurity. The training is to support existing biosecurity efforts under the A+ Biosecurity Standards developed proactively by the aquaculture industry. These standards are one of a kind in Aotearoa and serve as the foundation for one of the country's most widespread and comprehensive biosecurity initiatives in the marine environment.

“Our marine farmers are looking at what’s in the water column every day, so they make a big contribution to the wider effort of marine biosecurity surveillance” says Caroline Gilbertson of Aquaculture New Zealand. 

She says there are plenty of examples of marine farmers doing precautionary reporting of species or events they have observed during daily operations. Most turn out to be false alarms, and others have pointed to genuine pest incursions which Biosecurity NZ could work on. The most important thing is that any suspected pest or disease is notified so that experts can check it out and respond quickly.

“Marine pests and diseases can hurt the industry. Our workers don’t need to be able to tell the difference between a native fanworm and an invasive fanworm, they just need to be able to identify where there is a potential pest and seek further guidance from a manager, their council, or if required, the Ministry for Primary Industries” she says.

She says that one incursion of Mediterranean fanworm was detected early in Port Underwood in the Marlborough Sounds, enabling the specimens to be rapidly removed before they could become established.  

Marine farmers are invited to contact Aquaculture New Zealand to find out about training opportunities available to them.

Photos / Supplied by Aquaculture New Zealand