Hundreds join Northland caulerpa webinar to fight invasive seaweed
Also attending are: Northland Regional Council chair Geoff Crawford; exotic caulerpa national advisory group Tai Tokerau Northland representative Natasha Clarke; and Kelliher.
Ngāti Kuta trustee Glenys Papuni will speak about the caulerpa work her Te Rāwhiti hāpu is doing.
Kelliher said topics addressed would include the latest on where caulerpa has been found in Northland.
Participants would also be updated on caulerpa elimination efforts.
Kelliher said the webinar had been organised to address the most commonlyasked questions about caulerpa.
New technologies being developed in Northland and nationally include a large industrial-scale underwater tractor unit, ultra-violet light treatment, and a movable underwater chlorine treatment chamber.
New Zealand's first commercial rapid response caulerpa dive squad recently started surveying for the seaweed and new elimination efforts.
Caulerpa was first confirmed in Northland in 2023 at the major boating anchorage of Omākiwi Cove at Te Rāwhiti.
The Omākiwi Cove infestation is New Zealand's only mainland caulerpa infestation.
Ministry of Primary Industries deputy director general Stuart Anderson said at the time of the seaweed's Omākiwi Cove and surrounds find that the Bay of Islands caulerpa infestation was a sizeable problem.
More than 1000ha of the Bay of Islands is now under a Government anchoring ban as efforts to get on top of the pest continue.
Hundreds of people rushed to clear Omākiwi Cove and adjacent Whiorau Bay beaches after 500 tonnes of caulerpa washed up over Easter during ex-Tropical Cyclone Tam.
New Zealand has recently been warned invasive caulerpa threatens a $9.4 billion hit.
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