Fruit fly emergency is over

Jeff Gordon uses his smartphone to upload information about a trap in Zone A in Whangarei to the national data base as part of the final trap inspections on Saturday. Photo/John Stone

The battle waged after a single male Queensland fruit fly was discovered in Whangarei is now over.

After an intensive two-week surveillance period and a clamp-down on the movement of fruit and vegetables, which took in Parihaka, Riverside and parts of central Whangarei, restrictions were lifted yesterday morning.

But the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is to increase the number of its routine fruit fly surveillance programme traps in Northland from the present 141. It is not known how many more traps will be set.

MPI Chief Operations Officer Andrew Coleman said the ministry was concerned there had been two incidents of fruit fly in Northland in a short space of time and it had boosted biosecurity activities at key international airports, international mail centre and transitional facilities in Auckland and Whangarei.

Present activities included biosecurity quarantine inspectors' increasing their questioning and risk assessment of passengers from risk areas at all international airports, detector dogs being used more, including on cruise ships arriving at Opua, Tauranga and Auckland; and 100 per cent dog coverage on high-risk mail items at Auckland International Mail Centre.

Mr Coleman said while there was no fresh produce in arrival and holding facilities in Whangarei, all transitional facilities in Whangarei would be visited again as a precautionary measure to check compliance with MPI requirements and to raise awareness of fruit fly.

"While the restrictions on produce movements are now lifted and this response is over, this does not signal the end of our continuing work in the area," Mr Coleman said.

Final checks of traps on Saturday were done by a team of MPI staff and found no further sign of the Queensland fruit fly in the Whangarei area and there was no longer any need for residents in the area to be restricted in their movements of produce.

A fortnight ago the ministry put in place a 1.5km diameter controlled area around where a single male Queensland fruit fly was found in a surveillance trap in the suburb of Parihaka.

"MPI would like to sincerely thank the wider Whangarei community for their fantastic support throughout this operation,"Mr Coleman said.

"This community help is vital in these responses. Had this pest become established in New Zealand, it would have had serious consequences for our home gardeners, horticultural growers and the wider New Zealand economy."

Mr Coleman said it was not known how the two flies got into New Zealand but the ministry was working with the horticultural industries on investigations into potential entry routes.

The first single male fruit fly was found in the Parihaka area in January about 400m from where the second fruit fly was discovered.

It is still thought that the two flies were separate incidents and not linked.

Should local residents find anything of concern, particularly insects or larvae in fruit, they should contact MPI's Pests and Diseases Hotline - 0800 80 99 66.