KEY POINTS:
Divers are wrapping plastic sheeting around wharf posts at Bluff's port this week, in a bid to stave off a nasty underwater pest.
The plastic sheeting suffocated the invasive seaweed undaria, which could jump from the wharf to vessel hulls, Biosecurity NZ adviser John Willmer said.
Undaria is a fast-growing brown kelp which can reach lengths of several metres, and has the potential to foul the marine environment and reduce biodiversity.
If it got on to vessels, Mr Willmer said, it could then "hitch a ride" from Bluff to Fiordland, posing a threat to other marine life there.
The first area of the port to be wrapped in the sheeting was the wharf where Fiordland-bound vessels moored.
Mr Willmer said a recent check of 65 boats at the port had found more than half were carrying the seaweed.
Biosecurity NZ was working with vessel operators to make sure their hulls were cleaned up and remained free of undaria and any other harmful organisms.
The operators were supportive of the project, and were keen to play a part in ridding the port of pests, he said.
The main wharf at Halfmoon Bay on Stewart Island had also been flagged for the plastic treatment.
"In the long run, it's going to be up to those who use Fiordland's waters to protect the area," Mr Willmer said.
This meant boaties needed to regularly clean their hulls and apply pest-repellent coatings, as well as keeping their buoys, mooring lines, fishing gear and trailers clean too.
And pest life scraped off boats needed to be disposed of on land, not in the water, he added.
- NZPA
