Bay of Plenty
Regional Didymo Response Plan
Date of Last Review: 20 November 2007
Environment Bay of Plenty
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1Description
1.2Control methods
1.3Legislation & Responsibilities
Chapter 2: Impacts of Didymo in the Bay of Plenty
2.1Environmental Impacts
2.2Economic Impacts
2.3Cultural & Social Impacts
2.4Stakeholders
Chapter 3: Strategic Approach and Objectives
3.1Objective 1
3.2Objective 2
3.3Objective 3
3.4Objective 4
3.5Objective 5
3.6Objective 6
Chapter 4: Risk Assessment
4.1Management Levels
4.2Value Scorers
4.3Risk Scores
4.4Risk Assessment/Prioritisation
4.5Didymo Operational Response
Chapter 5: Social Marketing Programme
Chapter 6: Surveillance
Chapter 7: Incursion Response
Chapter 8: Ongoing Management
Chapter 9: Actions to Meet Objectives
9.1Prevention and Preparedness
9.1.1Education and Public Awareness Actions
9.1.2Surveillance Actions
9.1.3Pre-planning Actions
9.2Incursion Response Actions
9.2.1Incursion Response Actions by MAFBNZ
9.2.2Incursion Response Actions by Regional Partners
9.2.3Education and Public Awareness Actions
9.2.4Surveillance Actions by Regional Partners
9.2.5Other Incursion Response Actions by Regional Partners
9.2.6Ongoing Management Actions
9.2.7Education and Public Awareness Actions
9.2.8Surveillance Actions
9.2.9Other Ongoing Actions
Chapter 10: Resource Requirements
Appendices
Appendix I – Didymo incursion river/lake matrix
Appendix 2 – Bay of Plenty Waterways Value and Risk Levels
Appendix 3 – Summary Table of Operational Plan
Appendix 4 – Contents
Appendix 5 – Signage locations
Appendix 6 – Available Resources
Appendix 7 – Decontamination recommendations
Appendix 8 – MAFBNZ Long Term Management Programme
Appendix 9 – Strategy if didymo is found in the North Island
Appendix 10 – MAFBNZ Incursion Response Operations Manual
Bay of Plenty Regional Didymo Response PlanNovember 2007
Environment Bay of Plenty1
Chapter 1: Introduction
This Regional Didymo Response Plan has been prepared by the Didymo Regional Partnership Group consisting of representatives from local agencies and stakeholders with a common interest in maintaining the Bay of Plenty (BOP) free from didymo. Membership of the group is drawn from:
- Environment Bay of Plenty
- Fish & Game (F&G)
- Department of Conservation (DOC)
- TrustPower
- Te Arawa Lakes Trust
- Rotorua District Council
The regional partnership group is closely aligned with the Rotorua Lakes Aquatic Pest Technical Advisory Group.
The purpose of this document is to establish a co-ordinated and consistent approach to the prevention of didymo and to detail preparedness, incursion response and ongoing management strategies. Cabinet has directed Biosecurity New Zealand (MAFBNZ) to develop and support a partnership approach for the management of didymo. As a result, MAFBNZ has produceda Long Term Management Plan in consultation with regional and national partners (see appendix10). This Regional Response Plan should be seen as the regional extension of that plan. This is a living document and as such will be updated as the risk of didymo establishment locally changes.
MAFBNZ is likely to provide on-going funding for:
- National co-ordination of the didymo long term management programme.
- Leadership and support of an aquatic social marketing programme to facilitate behaviour change in freshwater users.
- Execution of its regulatory responsibilities, e.g. New Zealand’s international border, controlled areas and statutory permissions.
Didymo surveillance will continue to be funded in the short term by MAFBNZ until the end of 2007. The social marketing programme will be part funded by MAFBNZ at least up till the end of the summer of 2007/2008. Responsibility for these programmes will then pass to regional partners.
Management of didymo under the regional response plan has three distinct parts:
- Prevention and preparedness
- Incursion response
- Ongoing management
Administration of this plan will be undertaken by the Regional Partnership Group, in association with MAFBNZ, and may involve other stakeholder groups where appropriate. The group will liaise with neighbouring Regional Partnership Groups, the North Island didymo programme co-ordinator and the national didymo partner steering group convened by MAFBNZ.
The Regional Partnership Group will meet regularly to review local management and surveillance activity and to ensure all required didymo management tasks within the region are allocated, resourced and actioned in a timely manner, consistent with national requirements.
1.1Description
Didymo (Didymosphenia geminata) is native to northern Europe and is also found in North America. It was first discovered in New Zealand in October 2004 and has now spread to many rivers and lakes across the South Island, but has not been detected in the NorthIsland.
Didymo is a fresh water invasive alga (diatom) that is only visible when blooming and is otherwise microscopic, making it difficult to detect. It prefers moderate flowing, clear, open rivers and is spread from one waterway to another as a single microscopic cell. The cells ‘hitchhike’ in moisture on equipment such as boats, fishing gear and kayaks and once in a waterway, disperse and multiply rapidly, provided conditions are suitable.
Didymo attaches itself to the stream bed by its multiple stalks, producing a dense yellow-brown, carpet like layer that smothers rocks, submerged plants and other materials crucial to native invertebrates, fish and birds.
The effects of didymo on river ecology in New Zealand are not yet well understood and will not be known until didymo has been here for a longer time. What is clear is that the large, extensive algal blooms are unsightly, contribute a significant biomass in the rivers and are highly likely to impact on ecosystem functioning.
The response to didymo being detected in New Zealand has been based on the precautionary principle until the full effects are known.
1.2Control methods
Once established, didymo is virtually impossible to eradicate. Although research into an effective control mechanism is still ongoing, NIWA has had some encouraging results using chelated copper (Gemex™). In laboratory conditions, this compound was not only effective at killing didymo, but also had little impact on indigenous flora and fauna and trout. As a consequence of these results, field trials have recently been undertaken.
Until more conclusive results are confirmed, ERMA has approved the use of chelated copper in emergency situations only. The copper control tool will almost certainly not enable didymo to be eradicated from rivers where it is currently well established. It may however, be effective in controlling didymo at key locations or enable a new incursion to be treated if it is detected early enough and may be used to control a North Island incursion.
Prevention still remains the best form of management.
1.3Legislation and Responsibilities
MAFBNZ is the lead agency for didymo incursion response.
Didymo has been declared an unwanted organism under the Biosecurity Act 1993. Also under the Act, the South Island has been declared a controlled area. This means that:
(a)there is a legal requirement to clean equipment that has been exposed to river or lake water when leaving the South Island, before entering another water-body outside the South Island;
(b)there is a legal requirement to clean equipment that has been exposed to Didymo affected water-bodies;
(c)all water-bodies should be treated as if they contain didymo and therefore equipment should be cleaned when moving between water-bodies.
Didymo is not covered by Environment BayofPlenty’s current Regional Pest Management Strategy but the strategy does promote co-operation with other organisations in response to new incursions. The Regional Council supports continued involvement in didymo management in partnership with others.
DOC is a lead agency for managing freshwater values and one of the agencies responsible under the Biosecurity Act for preventing the spread of unwanted organisms.
Currently there is no legal requirement to clean equipment between water-bodies other than those under ‘Controlled Area’ status. It is however, an offence to knowingly spread unwanted organisms.
MAFBNZ has overall responsibility for any incursion response. The Regional Partnership Group are active partner agencies with significant roles in extending the awareness and prevention programme. Should didymo establish in the Bay of Plenty, ongoing management will gradually fall to regional agencies and stakeholders.
Bay of Plenty Regional Didymo Response PlanNovember 2007
Environment Bay of Plenty1
Chapter 2: Impacts of Didymo in the Bay of Plenty
Didymo poses a major threat to New Zealand’s fresh water environment by affecting recreational, social and cultural, environmental (biodiversity) and economic values.
2.1Environmental Impacts
- Indigenous fauna, valued introduced species and ecocystem function
- Risk species
-Blue Duck
-Several native fish
-Eels
-Trout
-Several native freshwater invertebrates
2.2Economic Impacts
- Tourism
- Hydro power generation
- Fisheries
- Sport fishing industry
- Irrigation
- Cultural and Social Impacts
- Cultural & spiritual values for local Iwi and other communities
- Trout fishing
- Water based recreation
2.4Stakeholders
- Fish & Game
- Department of Conservation
- TrustPower
- Other Generators
- EnvironmentBay of Plenty
- District Councils
- Iwi
- Community groups
- Recreation groups
- Tourism operators
Bay of Plenty Regional Didymo Response PlanNovember 2007
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Chapter 3: Strategic Approach and Objectives
3.1Objective 1
To ensure operational activity by stakeholder agencies does not spread or lead to the establishment of didymo in and around the Bay of Plenty by:
- Decontaminating equipment to prevent cross-contamination
- Developing cleaning protocol templates for key agencies and organisations to adopt
- Adjusting work plans to reduce the need to enter waterways, or to enter them in such a way as to minimise the risk of didymo spread
- Objective 2
To minimise the risk of public activity spreading or leading to the establishment of didymo in and around the Bay of Plenty by:
- Distributing information, providing advice and advocate safe cleaning practices to the public
- Ensuring didymo conditions are applied to any concession/permit where the activity comes into contact with an at risk waterway
- Objective 3
To provide a co-ordinated approach to didymo across stakeholder agencies and groups in the Bay of Plenty, and to support all stakeholder agencies and groups in their efforts to prevent the spread of didymo by:
- Working collaboratively with other agencies, sharing information and resources
- Co-ordinating pre-incursion discussions
3.4Objective 4
To put in place a routine surveillance monitoring regime at high risk, high priority sites to ensure the earliest possible detection of any didymo incursions within the region by:
- Identifying priority sites for surveillance monitoring
- Allocating responsibility for undertaking the sampling, analysis and reporting
- Build capacity
- Objective 5
To ensure informed procedures are in place to respond effectively to a Bay of Plenty incursion by:
- Preparing and disseminating procedure for responding to a NorthIsland incursion
- Discussing procedure with stakeholders and identify best practice options
- Clarifying multi agency roles in responding to a BOP incursion
- Identifying resources and building capacity
- Objective 6
To provide a long-term direction for the Bay of Plenty to maintain the region free of didymo for as long as possible and, should didymo occur, reduce the impacts on high value sites and risk species within the region by:
- Supporting a ‘Whole of Government’, coordinated approach in managing didymo
- Coordinating ongoing initiatives and continuous improvement across the BOP including; surveillance, social marketing, regulatory control and review processes
- Ensuring appropriate and effective mechanisms are available to protect high value sites and species
Bay of Plenty Regional Didymo Response PlanNovember 2007
Environment Bay of Plenty1
Chapter 4: Risk Assessment
4.1Management Levels
Bay of Plenty rivers and lakes have been given a qualitative ‘Value’ and ‘Risk’ score. These scores then provide each river or site a ‘Priority Score’ of 1 to 4. (See tables in Appendix 2).
4.2Value Scorers
The value of a river or lake has been subjectively assessed in terms of:
- Level and nature of recreational use (kayaking, angling, rafting, swimming, etc)
- Trout fishery values
- ecological significance (e.g. blue duck, native fish, national heritage value score)
- the cultural or spiritual relationship that iwi and/or other communities have with the river
- the economic value to industry (e.g. hydro-electric power generation or irrigation systems).
- Risk Scores
The risk of didymo establishing in a river or lake has been subjectively assessed in terms of:
- the amount and nature of recreational use, particularly water based recreation such as trout fishing, kayaking or rafting
- overall accessibility and the level of public use an area receives
- the didymo habitat suitability as assessed by NIWA nationally (see maps in appendix 4) and Department of Conservation (DOC), Fish and Game (F&G) and Environment Bay of Plenty staff locally
4.4Risk Assessment/Prioritisation
Individual rivers and lakes have been ranked using a combination of the values at risk related to the risks of didymo establishing. A high value site with a high risk of incursion, therefore, becomes a higher priority for activity such as user advocacy, cleaning stations or routine surveillance monitoring, compared to a site with low or moderate values where the risk of didymo establishment is low.
The prioritisation assessment relationships between risk and value levels are shown in the table in appendix 1.
4.5Didymo Operational Response
As didymo distribution across New Zealand changes over time, so too does the risk profile for the Bay of Plenty and for specific rivers within the region. The various levels of response are described below in ascending order of risk.
The Operational Plan(see summary table, appendix 3)has been designed to operate at four different response levels as defined below. The Bay of Plenty is currently operating at Level 1.
Level 1:
Didymo has been confirmed in New Zealand but is confined to the South Island.
Level 2:
Didymo has been confirmed in the NorthIsland but is not in the Bay of Plenty region.
Level 3:
Didymo has been confirmed in the Bay of Plenty region – extent not confirmed.
Level 4:
Didymo has been confirmed in the specific river catchment or lake.
Bay of Plenty Regional Didymo Response PlanNovember 2007
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Chapter 5: Social Marketing Programme
A wide range of publicity material has been developed by MAFBNZ to increase public awareness of the threat didymo poses to New Zealand waterways and to educate them about how these risks can be managed. This material includes posters, bumper-stickers, jellybeans, signs, banners and other written material. The material has been widely circulated to the public and to specific at risk user groups by stakeholder agencies and groups.
Advocacy also involves staff from various stakeholder agencies and groups undertaking one-on-one advocacy at high priority sites.
Peer group pressure remains an important tool in all didymo management actions to help reinforce messages. Mechanisms to enhance peer group pressure will also need to be developed.
A wide range of specific education and public awareness actions are outlined in section 9.0 below.
Bay of Plenty Regional Didymo Response PlanNovember 2007
Chapter 6: Surveillance
Currently three monthly, MAFBNZ delimiting surveys are undertaken across the region under contract to NIWA. These will be picked up by Regional partners from the beginning of 2008.
Nine priority one rivers will be sampled from November 2007 (see Operational Plan, appendix 3).
More extensive delimitation surveys of a wider network of priority sites following didymo detection within the North Island or within the region may be required.
Samples will be sent to the University of Waikato for DNA analysis.
Survey data will be entered on the MAFBNZ National Didymo Surveillance Database by sampling teams. Results will be entered by the relevant lab.
Key staff have been trained in DNA sampling techniques but further staff from regional partners will be trained in the future as part of the capacity building process.
Bay of Plenty Regional Didymo Response PlanNovember 2007
Environment Bay of Plenty1
Chapter 7: Incursion Response
MAFBNZ is accountable for all aspects of the didymo incursion response and has been working with regional partners and stakeholders to improve preparedness and to identify roles and responsibilities for a North Island response. A Strategy if Didymo is detected in the North Island has been developed by MAFBNZ (see appendix 11).
Bay of Plenty Regional Didymo Response PlanNovember 2007
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Chapter 8: Ongoing Management
At some stage, subsequent to a possible NorthIsland incursion, it is anticipated that MAFBNZ will shift their management of didymo from a localised post-border incursion to a pest management framework. If and when that happens, agencies and stakeholders will adopt the lead role in managing didymo with a focus on:
- Preventing the further spread of didymo throughout the Bay of Plenty
- Protecting valued sites and at risk species
- Reducing the impacts of didymo in affected areas
Bay of Plenty Regional Didymo Response PlanNovember 2007
Environment Bay of Plenty1
Chapter 9: Actions to Meet Objectives
Actions have been grouped into various categories related to public education and awareness, surveillance, preplanning, incursion response and ongoing management.
9.1Prevention and Preparedness
(See also response levels 1 and 2 in the operational plan summary table, appendix 3).
9.1.1Education and Public Awareness Actions
- Proactive public awareness campaigns across the spectrum of at risk recreational user groups including anglers, kayakers/rafters, boat users, 4WD groups, hunters, trampers and campervan users. (See appendix 5 for list of contacts.) These campaigns will be aimed at changing user behaviour about equipment cleaning, targeting specific events such as fishing competitions, opening day of various fishing seasons, and sporting events.(See appendix 6 for list of events.) The intensity of the campaign will vary from river to river depending on its priority and the key thrust will be one on one contact to emphasis the message. The campaign will also be increase during the summer as part of the RotoruaLakes summer awareness campaign.
- Establishment and maintenance of cleaning stations at key sites across the region.
- Establishment and maintenance of strategic signage across the region, initially reinforcing the ‘check, clean and dry’ message. (See list of locations in appendix7).
- Support stakeholder agencies to develop Best Practice Protocols for staff and contractors to avoid cross contamination of waterways through the provision of suitable protocol templates (see appendix 8).
- Across agency collaboration to share information and resources to achieve a co-ordinated North Island campaign.
- Generic requirements for Concessionaires on DOC managed land.
- Support robust border procedures at Nth Is. entry points such as the Cook Strait ferry terminal and airports.
Surveillance Actions- Identify priority sites for routine surveillance monitoring regime and carry out three monthly surveys.
- Build capacity to allow surveillance requirements to be met.
- Train staff for collection and analysis.
- Obtain sufficient supplies of sampling equipment.
- Pre-planning Actions
- Develop multi agency approach to didymo management.
- Convene Bay of Plenty Partnership Group regularly.
- Develop, strengthen and maintain relationships and networks.
- Discuss Regional Response Plan and response options with iwi authorities.
- Disseminate Plan widely amongst all stakeholder groups.
- Disseminate procedures for responding to a NorthIsland incursion.
- Clarify agency roles in responding to a Bay of Plenty incursion.
- Build response capacity through identifying resourcing needs and resource availability.
- Post on Regional Partner websites and link to MAFBNZ website.
- Incursion Response Actions
(Seealsoresponse levels 3 and 4 in the operational plan summary table, appendix 3.)