Latest news with #SusanBotting
Scoop
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Northland Regional Council: Ratepayers Not Providing Huge Money Needed For Caulerpa Fight
Article – Susan Botting – Local Democracy Reporter The council would continue to work on the Government-funded $6.2 million development of the industrial-scale underwater tractor caulerpa removal tool in the Bay of Islands Omkiwi Cove until the end of 2025. Northland Regional Council says its ratepayers will not be putting up the huge amounts of money needed to continue the local and national $25 million fight against invasive caulerpa seaweed. Northland Regional Council (NRC) chair Geoff Crawford said his council had already put $1.25 million into the fight since the exotic pest was confirmed in the Bay of Islands in 2023. The council would continue to work on the Government-funded $6.2 million development of the industrial-scale underwater tractor caulerpa removal tool in the Bay of Islands Omākiwi Cove until the end of 2025. And there would be continued low-level ratepayer funding towards the council's active and important marine biosecurity surveillance and education roles for the next two years. But Crawford told an online Conquer Caulerpa Trust hui on Tuesday night (SUBS: May 27) that major funding was needed to continue the national caulerpa fight and the sort of money needed was not the regional council's role to provide. He said the question now became who would pay and how the battle was going to proceed. The fight against caulerpa was an expensive one. An NRC spend of $500,000 equated to a 1% regional council rates increase. Biosecurity New Zealand director of pest management John Walsh told the hui the Government had already put $24.9 million towards fighting caulerpa – 21/22 $1.2m, 22/23 $1.2m, 23/24 $8.5m and 24/25 $14m. But there was no Government spending for the 2025/2026 year that starts on July 1 outlined in his spend data provided to the hui. Crawford said later funding a major response such as caulerpa was not the council's role. That needed to be done by the Ministry for Primary Industries or co-funding with community-led groups such as Conquer Caulerpa. He said NRC had dug into its reserves to fund to date, so that ratepayers wouldn't be burdened, Walsh told the hui that although caulerpa was first confirmed in New Zealand at Aotea/Great Barrier Island in July 2021, it had been present there for several years prior to that. And the Bay of Islands' caulerpa confirmed at Te Rāwhiti almost two years later in May 2023, had in fact already been present when the pest seaweed was first confirmed at Great Barrier Island in 2021. The toxic seaweed, which competes with other species for space and affects the balance of local ecosystems, has spread to Northland, Auckland and Waikato since first being detected. NRC has played a key role in the battle against caulerpa for the last two years, pushing for and in part funding major innovation, surveillance, education and eradication efforts. This included the giant lawnmower-style unit being developed at Omākiwi Cove with an Opua-based marine company. Omākiwi Cove in the eastern Bay of Islands has been the epicentre of the caulerpa fight tool's development. The world-first underwater tractor is being developed with two other promising caulerpa fight tools – a rehabitat caulerapa chlorine treatment chamber and ultraviolet light treatment unit (for which a 40% bigger model was currently being manufactured in China). More than 70% of the Government's caulerpa spend this financial year has gone towards developing these tools. There were 437 people registered to attend the Northland-focused Conquer Caulerpa Trust hui. It was the first of its type in New Zealand with attendees from iwi, hapū, boating clubs, tourist operators, councils, universities, marine research institutes and community groups. A large swathe of Bay of Islands tourist operators registered for the event. More than two dozen iwi, hapū and/or marae from across Northland and the Hauraki Gulf were also among those registered to attend. But major technical issues with getting into the online meeting meant that only about a third attended and the meeting began almost 15 minutes late. Conquer Caulerpa chair Verdon Kelliher said caulerpa had the potential to permanently alter life in Te Tai Tokerau. It now covered about 280 rugby fields around 20 Bay of Islands locations. The seaweed could mean no boating, no fishing and/or no diving which would in turn impact many other businesses. 'That's what makes it a very serious thing,' Kelliher said. Growing concern over future fight funding comes as the problem seaweed continues its march. In the last couple of weeks it's been confirmed at Little Barrier Island, with the Government considering a fifth anchoring ban there to add to more than 12,000 hectares of coastline shut to boat anchoring, most sorts of fishing and/or kaimoana gathering. National exotic caulerpa national advisory group Te Tai Tokerau representative Natasha Clarke-Nathan (Patukeha, Ngati Kuta) said the seaweed was now found in Northland, Auckland and Waikato. She said it was important all people, across New Zealand, were singing from the same hymn sheet when it came to caulerpa. The battle was about kotahitanga. 'We have to do things together,' Clarke-Nathan said. She said the issues facing the Bay of Islands were part of the bigger picture for the whole country. Ngati Kuta ki Te Rawhiti charitable trust trustee Glenys Papanui (Ngati Kuta) said the goal was to eradicate caulerpa. The battle was not just about Ipipiri, the Bay of Islands. 'It's about all of our coastline,' Papanui said.
Scoop
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Northland Regional Council: Ratepayers Not Providing Huge Money Needed For Caulerpa Fight
Article – Susan Botting – Local Democracy Reporter Northland Regional Council says its ratepayers will not be putting up the huge amounts of money needed to continue the local and national $25 million fight against invasive caulerpa seaweed. Northland Regional Council (NRC) chair Geoff Crawford said his council had already put $1.25 million into the fight since the exotic pest was confirmed in the Bay of Islands in 2023. The council would continue to work on the Government-funded $6.2 million development of the industrial-scale underwater tractor caulerpa removal tool in the Bay of Islands Omākiwi Cove until the end of 2025. And there would be continued low-level ratepayer funding towards the council's active and important marine biosecurity surveillance and education roles for the next two years. But Crawford told an online Conquer Caulerpa Trust hui on Tuesday night (SUBS: May 27) that major funding was needed to continue the national caulerpa fight and the sort of money needed was not the regional council's role to provide. He said the question now became who would pay and how the battle was going to proceed. The fight against caulerpa was an expensive one. An NRC spend of $500,000 equated to a 1% regional council rates increase. Biosecurity New Zealand director of pest management John Walsh told the hui the Government had already put $24.9 million towards fighting caulerpa – 21/22 $1.2m, 22/23 $1.2m, 23/24 $8.5m and 24/25 $14m. But there was no Government spending for the 2025/2026 year that starts on July 1 outlined in his spend data provided to the hui. Crawford said later funding a major response such as caulerpa was not the council's role. That needed to be done by the Ministry for Primary Industries or co-funding with community-led groups such as Conquer Caulerpa. He said NRC had dug into its reserves to fund to date, so that ratepayers wouldn't be burdened, Walsh told the hui that although caulerpa was first confirmed in New Zealand at Aotea/Great Barrier Island in July 2021, it had been present there for several years prior to that. And the Bay of Islands' caulerpa confirmed at Te Rāwhiti almost two years later in May 2023, had in fact already been present when the pest seaweed was first confirmed at Great Barrier Island in 2021. The toxic seaweed, which competes with other species for space and affects the balance of local ecosystems, has spread to Northland, Auckland and Waikato since first being detected. NRC has played a key role in the battle against caulerpa for the last two years, pushing for and in part funding major innovation, surveillance, education and eradication efforts. This included the giant lawnmower-style unit being developed at Omākiwi Cove with an Opua-based marine company. Omākiwi Cove in the eastern Bay of Islands has been the epicentre of the caulerpa fight tool's development. The world-first underwater tractor is being developed with two other promising caulerpa fight tools – a rehabitat caulerapa chlorine treatment chamber and ultraviolet light treatment unit (for which a 40% bigger model was currently being manufactured in China). More than 70% of the Government's caulerpa spend this financial year has gone towards developing these tools. There were 437 people registered to attend the Northland-focused Conquer Caulerpa Trust hui. It was the first of its type in New Zealand with attendees from iwi, hapū, boating clubs, tourist operators, councils, universities, marine research institutes and community groups. A large swathe of Bay of Islands tourist operators registered for the event. More than two dozen iwi, hapū and/or marae from across Northland and the Hauraki Gulf were also among those registered to attend. But major technical issues with getting into the online meeting meant that only about a third attended and the meeting began almost 15 minutes late. Conquer Caulerpa chair Verdon Kelliher said caulerpa had the potential to permanently alter life in Te Tai Tokerau. It now covered about 280 rugby fields around 20 Bay of Islands locations. The seaweed could mean no boating, no fishing and/or no diving which would in turn impact many other businesses. 'That's what makes it a very serious thing,' Kelliher said. Growing concern over future fight funding comes as the problem seaweed continues its march. In the last couple of weeks it's been confirmed at Little Barrier Island, with the Government considering a fifth anchoring ban there to add to more than 12,000 hectares of coastline shut to boat anchoring, most sorts of fishing and/or kaimoana gathering. National exotic caulerpa national advisory group Te Tai Tokerau representative Natasha Clarke-Nathan (Patukeha, Ngati Kuta) said the seaweed was now found in Northland, Auckland and Waikato. She said it was important all people, across New Zealand, were singing from the same hymn sheet when it came to caulerpa. The battle was about kotahitanga. 'We have to do things together,' Clarke-Nathan said. She said the issues facing the Bay of Islands were part of the bigger picture for the whole country. Ngati Kuta ki Te Rawhiti charitable trust trustee Glenys Papanui (Ngati Kuta) said the goal was to eradicate caulerpa. The battle was not just about Ipipiri, the Bay of Islands. 'It's about all of our coastline,' Papanui said.
Scoop
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
NZ Faces $9.4b Hit From Invasive Caulerpa, Analysis Shows
Article – Susan Botting – Local Democracy Reporter New Zealand's economy risks a $9.4 billion hit as the invasive seaweed caulerpa gains an increasing stronghold – with reports of it now spreading to the Bay of Islands tourist town of Russell. That's the stark warning after new NZIER analysis showed caulerpa's spread will impact tourism and recreation, commercial fishing, aquaculture and ecosystems if more is not done to stop the spread. The analysis is part of a New Zealand-first iwi, community and council consortium December business case to the government pushing for a co-ordinated, scaled up approach. The heavyweight consortium wants up to $215 million – $43 million annually – for the first five years of a 30-year fight against caulerpa, which would be funded through taxpayer contributions, local rates and vessel levies. But Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard has challenged the $9.4 billion economic impact figure. 'The impacts of exotic caulerpa in New Zealand are still not fully understood and long-term studies are underway to understand this better. 'Given that we are still studying how caulerpa behaves and affects local marine ecology it would be extremely difficult to identify a cost with any certainty,' Hoggard said. Hoggard would not comment on how much money the government would be putting towards caulerpa in the 22 May Budget. 'The government always faces difficult choices about what to fund and I cannot discuss Budget ahead of its release later this month,' Hoggard said. Exotic caulerpa has been described by independent scientific experts as the country's most serious marine biosecurity invasion in a lifetime. Northland-based Conquer Caulerpa Trust chair Verdon Kelliher said the situation was desperate and the government wasn't doing enough to remedy the issue. 'We're talking about major impacts,' Kelliher said. 'Without immediate, co-ordinated action, our fishing grounds, tourism industry and cultural heritage face unprecedented damage.' The caulerpa threat area stretches 1500 kilometres of coastline from Cape Reinga to East Cape, including the 'golden triangle' economic powerhouse of Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty, as well as Northland. It has spread to more than 90 locations from the Bay of Islands to the Mercury Islands, off the upper Coromandel Peninsula. Ex-Tropical Cyclone Tam washed more than 500 tonnes of caulerpa ashore in thick carpets in the Bay of Islands' Omākiwi Cove and adjacent Whiorau Bay over Easter. Local volunteers rushed to remove it due to fears of it creating a growth explosion. The consortium wants a strengthened government approach to caulerpa with a stronger marine biosecurity framework to co-ordinate a scaled-up fight. Its business case, by consultants Martin Jenkins and based on the NZIER economic analysis, was developed over four months by Hauraki Gulf-based Pou Rāhui iwi (Ngāti Pāoa, Ngāti Hei, Ngāti Tamaterā and Ngā Tai ki Tāmaki) with financial and/or other input also including from marine scientists and Northland Regional Council, Auckland Council, Waikato Regional Council, Thames-Coromandel District Council, Hauraki District Council, DOC plus affected industries. Hoggard met Pou Rāhui iwi and councils behind the business case in March. He said the meeting had been 'very useful' and asked officials to consider the business case and provide advice to him 'in due course'. Pou Rāhui iwi spokesperson Herearoha Skipper said the cost of the government not taking appropriate action outweighed the cost of doing so. 'The arrival of caulerpa represents an unprecedented threat to our marine environment,' Skipper said. 'We are deeply concerned about the lack of a comprehensive approach to fighting this seaweed species and its potentially devastating impact.' NZIER modelling suggested that without proper intervention, $9.4 billion of the upper North Island's natural capital asset value could be lost over the next 30 years. That includes an $8.8 billion recreational and tourism loss including recreational fishing – fish biomass has been halved in overseas caulerpa infestations. Recreational boating would be impacted with significant movement restrictions, the report said. There would be a $118 million loss for commercial fishing, $24 million for aquaculture and $489.4 million in ecosystem services degradation, NZIER said. Roles and responsibilities in the caulerpa fight were not clear and regulatory barriers often prevented rapid responses. Traditional frameworks failed to adequately incorporate mātauranga Māori and invasive species funding had been reactive rather than proactive, the report said. New Zealand's first mainland exotic caulerpa infestation was identified in Omākiwi Cove in the eastern Bay of Islands in May 2023. More than 1000ha – the equivalent of 1429 rugby fields – have been closed to boat anchoring since June 2023 to help stop its spread. Sightings of caulerpa have now been reported outside this anchoring ban area including Russell's Kororarēka Bay, about 10 kilometres by boat from Omākiwi Cove. It's also been reported at Long Beach (Oneroa) and Tāpeka Point. 'And it's highly likely that additional beaches are affected but remain unreported,' Kelliher said. Hoggard said the caulerpa that had been shown globally to create dense monocultures were different species from those causing issues in New Zealand – where there was no clear evidence the marine pest was overgrowing seagrass. Biosecurity New Zealand, mana whenua, regional councils, affected communities and other agencies had invested a huge amount of effort and money to tackle the situation, he said. The government had put more than $20 million towards efforts to understand the pest, contain its spread and develop new technologies to remove it, Hoggard said. World-leading technology was also helping to remove different types of caulerpa infestations including the development of a large-scale suction dredge in the Bay of Islands.
Scoop
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
NZ Faces $9.4b Hit From Invasive Caulerpa, Analysis Shows
Article – Susan Botting – Local Democracy Reporter The invasive seaweed is gaining an increasing stronghold. New Zealand's economy risks a $9.4 billion hit as the invasive seaweed caulerpa gains an increasing stronghold – with reports of it now spreading to the Bay of Islands tourist town of Russell. That's the stark warning after new NZIER analysis showed caulerpa's spread will impact tourism and recreation, commercial fishing, aquaculture and ecosystems if more is not done to stop the spread. The analysis is part of a New Zealand-first iwi, community and council consortium December business case to the government pushing for a co-ordinated, scaled up approach. The heavyweight consortium wants up to $215 million – $43 million annually – for the first five years of a 30-year fight against caulerpa, which would be funded through taxpayer contributions, local rates and vessel levies. But Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard has challenged the $9.4 billion economic impact figure. 'The impacts of exotic caulerpa in New Zealand are still not fully understood and long-term studies are underway to understand this better. 'Given that we are still studying how caulerpa behaves and affects local marine ecology it would be extremely difficult to identify a cost with any certainty,' Hoggard said. Hoggard would not comment on how much money the government would be putting towards caulerpa in the 22 May Budget. 'The government always faces difficult choices about what to fund and I cannot discuss Budget ahead of its release later this month,' Hoggard said. Exotic caulerpa has been described by independent scientific experts as the country's most serious marine biosecurity invasion in a lifetime. Northland-based Conquer Caulerpa Trust chair Verdon Kelliher said the situation was desperate and the government wasn't doing enough to remedy the issue. 'We're talking about major impacts,' Kelliher said. 'Without immediate, co-ordinated action, our fishing grounds, tourism industry and cultural heritage face unprecedented damage.' The caulerpa threat area stretches 1500 kilometres of coastline from Cape Reinga to East Cape, including the 'golden triangle' economic powerhouse of Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty, as well as Northland. It has spread to more than 90 locations from the Bay of Islands to the Mercury Islands, off the upper Coromandel Peninsula. Ex-Tropical Cyclone Tam washed more than 500 tonnes of caulerpa ashore in thick carpets in the Bay of Islands' Omākiwi Cove and adjacent Whiorau Bay over Easter. Local volunteers rushed to remove it due to fears of it creating a growth explosion. The consortium wants a strengthened government approach to caulerpa with a stronger marine biosecurity framework to co-ordinate a scaled-up fight. Its business case, by consultants Martin Jenkins and based on the NZIER economic analysis, was developed over four months by Hauraki Gulf-based Pou Rāhui iwi (Ngāti Pāoa, Ngāti Hei, Ngāti Tamaterā and Ngā Tai ki Tāmaki) with financial and/or other input also including from marine scientists and Northland Regional Council, Auckland Council, Waikato Regional Council, Thames-Coromandel District Council, Hauraki District Council, DOC plus affected industries. Hoggard met Pou Rāhui iwi and councils behind the business case in March. He said the meeting had been 'very useful' and asked officials to consider the business case and provide advice to him 'in due course'. Pou Rāhui iwi spokesperson Herearoha Skipper said the cost of the government not taking appropriate action outweighed the cost of doing so. 'The arrival of caulerpa represents an unprecedented threat to our marine environment,' Skipper said. 'We are deeply concerned about the lack of a comprehensive approach to fighting this seaweed species and its potentially devastating impact.' NZIER modelling suggested that without proper intervention, $9.4 billion of the upper North Island's natural capital asset value could be lost over the next 30 years. That includes an $8.8 billion recreational and tourism loss including recreational fishing – fish biomass has been halved in overseas caulerpa infestations. Recreational boating would be impacted with significant movement restrictions, the report said. There would be a $118 million loss for commercial fishing, $24 million for aquaculture and $489.4 million in ecosystem services degradation, NZIER said. Roles and responsibilities in the caulerpa fight were not clear and regulatory barriers often prevented rapid responses. Traditional frameworks failed to adequately incorporate mātauranga Māori and invasive species funding had been reactive rather than proactive, the report said. New Zealand's first mainland exotic caulerpa infestation was identified in Omākiwi Cove in the eastern Bay of Islands in May 2023. More than 1000ha – the equivalent of 1429 rugby fields – have been closed to boat anchoring since June 2023 to help stop its spread. Sightings of caulerpa have now been reported outside this anchoring ban area including Russell's Kororarēka Bay, about 10 kilometres by boat from Omākiwi Cove. It's also been reported at Long Beach (Oneroa) and Tāpeka Point. 'And it's highly likely that additional beaches are affected but remain unreported,' Kelliher said. Hoggard said the caulerpa that had been shown globally to create dense monocultures were different species from those causing issues in New Zealand – where there was no clear evidence the marine pest was overgrowing seagrass. Biosecurity New Zealand, mana whenua, regional councils, affected communities and other agencies had invested a huge amount of effort and money to tackle the situation, he said. The government had put more than $20 million towards efforts to understand the pest, contain its spread and develop new technologies to remove it, Hoggard said. World-leading technology was also helping to remove different types of caulerpa infestations including the development of a large-scale suction dredge in the Bay of Islands.
Scoop
02-05-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Conservation Minister Sees Caulerpa's ‘Catastrophic' Impact In Bay Of Islands
Article – Susan Botting – Local Democracy Reporter Potakas comments came after visiting the Bay of Islands to see firsthand the disastrous and catastrophic impacts of the super-spreader caulerpa seaweed. Conservation Minister Tama Potaka has likened the 'catastrophic' caulerpa seaweed invasion to the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis – which led to one of the country's biggest biosecurity responses and saw 176,000 cattle slaughtered. Potaka's comments came after visiting the Bay of Islands to see firsthand the 'disastrous and catastrophic' impacts of the super-spreader caulerpa seaweed. He visited the biggest mainland caulerpa infestation at eastern Bay of Islands Omākiwi Cove this morning, in the wake of 500 tonnes of caulerpa washing ashore due to high winds and waves of ex Tropical Cyclone Tam over Easter. Potaka said caulerpa's impact was 'disastrous and catastrophic' on beaches and the health of the whenua, and clearly impacted the wairua of the environment. Caulerpa is a super-spreader seaweed that can grow from a tiny bean sprout fragment to cover a rugby field-sized area of seafloor within three months in the right conditions. Potaka said was a serious invasion issue like Mycoplasma bovis or freshwater golden clams, where a joint response was needed. Eradicating the cattle disease from New Zealand led to one of the country's biggest biosecurity responses costing $880 million over a decade. Around $12 million has been spent on New Zealand's freshwater gold clam invasion to date. Potaka said he would be speaking to Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard upon his return to Wellington, his efforts supporting biosecurity efforts. The Conservation Minister met Te Rāwhiti hapū working to fight the caulerpa invasion so he could visit kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face). 'It was important for me to be here to see people on the ground dealing with it on a daily basis.' Potaka had never seen caulerpa first-hand and said it was worse that he had imagined. The tonnes of caulerpa washed up onto Omākiwi Cove and Whiorau Bay are now heaped into huge 150 metre-long piles, originally up to 1.8m high, at the head of these beaches. Locals rushed to remove the seaweed from the shoreline before it washed back out to sea creating huge new infestations. He said exotic caulerpa was a massive incursion and the Government was taking steps to deal with it, but getting rid of it would not be a one-shot wonder. Caulerpa's effects went beyond the environment as it impacted the economy and intersected with identity, culture and society. He said the time and resources the community had put into fighting caulerpa was impressive. Potaka also met Bay of Islands ocean engineer Andrew Johnson in Paihia. Johnson is leading the development of New Zealand's first large-scale underwater tractor unit for removing caulerpa infestations from the sea floor. This work was recently boosted with a $6.2 million Government grant. Potaka said innovation such as this was something he was particularly interested in. He said Northland/Te Tai Tokerau was a beautiful place everybody should visit. Dealing with caulerpa was important in that context. Exotic caulerpa was first identified in New Zealand at Great Barrier Island in 2021. Its first mainland infestation was confirmed in the Bay of Islands in 2023.
