Freshwater Pest Partnership Programme Monthly Teleconference - Minutes
17 January 2013, 3.00-4.00 pm
Attendees / ApologiesAnna McKnight (Department of Conservation, Turangi)
Anna Paltridge (Department of Conservation, Christchurch)
Didymo Dave (Central North Island Partnership Group)
Graeme Peek/Peeky (Fish and Game, Te Anau)
Jake Harvey (MPI – Senior Marketing Adviser)
Jeff Donaldson (Otago Regional Council)
Lisa Talbot (Horizons Regional Council)
Manu (Department of Conservation, Rotorua Advocate)
Olivia Davidson (Gisborne Advocate)
Richard Mallinson (Bay of Plenty Regional Council)
Rob McCaw (Environment Canterbury)
Rose Bird (MPI – Adviser) Chair / Marc Jary (Fish and Game, Nelson-Marlborough)
Kim Jones (Whitebait Connection Programme)
- Introductions and Apologies
- Summary of actions from last meeting
The actions from the monthly teleconference held on 20 Decembercovered:
Meeting Date / Action / Responsibility / Status / Comments17/05/2012 / Change the search pathway to the Didymo website so that it is ‘Check Clean Dry’ and update the website content. / Rose Bird/Jake Harvey / Jake has updated the URL for the cleaning instructions which is now than
Whole page URL still needs to be updated.
21/06/2012 / Update events information PDF and add to MPI website / MPI Publications Team / Complete –
On
21/06/2012 / Update the FAQ section of the website/Knowledge base for future student enquiries / Rose Bird/Jeff Donaldson/Anna Paltridge / Complete - The FAQ section of the website has been updated
18/10/2012 / Communicate overview of current permits issued for the different types of transfer activities / Rose Bird / In progress
15/11/2012 / Contact NZ Dive and Salvage re ultrasound proposal / Rose Bird / Complete – NZ Diving and Salvaging Ltd will provide a report in the next month or so.
15/11/2012 / CCD message for school newsletters / Lisa Talbot / Complete
- Regional Partner Updates
- Marc Jary
Update from Marc – December was a busy period with very dry and hot weather. There were plenty of swimmers, boaties, trampers, fishermen etc. Many local rivers infected with didymo have been “cleaned out” after the recent heavy rain and subsequent flooding. Re-branding of signage is around 95% complete with just four back country rivers still to be completed. One concerning find is that of a nearly dead brown trout in Tasman’s local Waimea river with a possible case of the haemorrhages affecting lamprey. The trout has since been kept as a sample.
- Didymo Dave
A banner that was stolen from a roadside in the region around three years ago has recently resurfaced, which is great news. The weather has meant that there has been little boating activity over the December/January period, however Didymo will be doing radio advertisements in the next while in order to get the message to those people out enjoying the waterways. The Fishing and Outdoor magazine article has been published, after being run by Jeff and Jake.
The Central North Island had two incidents recently of individuals bringing wetsuits and kayaks, which had previously been in didymo infested waterways, up to the North Island. The CCD advocate intercepted these cases before they could enter the didymo free waterways. Didymo Dave was also rung by two members of the Brown Trout Fishing Club that were planning to go to Fiordland for filming, and wanted check that they understood the CCD protocol and had the right concentration of cleaning detergent. It is great to see such clued up and proactive members of the public.
- Anna McKnight
Anna has been on holiday but has managed to provide valuable contributions to a number of articles in local publications and will be advocating at the catfish spearfishing competition on the 2nd of February. DOC Taupo, and also Northland, now have a native fish mascot costume to help raise awareness of freshwater conservation.
- Lisa Talbot
It was noted by Horizons that although the weather has been better this summer, the amount of campers and those out on the rivers remained similar to last year. Despite this, the Horizons advocate Andrew has had lots of success advocating on the Manawatu Gorge walk, with the vast majority of walkers having an interest or connection with freshwater. Horizons advocates have had success in attending community events such as markets, getting the message to people and places where it had not been previously.
The Facebook page is also going well and was good to show Andrew holidaying in the South Island and getting up close with didymo. There was a suspected sighting reported on the Facebook page – which Didymo Dave directed to the 0800 number. The regional council wanted to analyse the sample and confirm it was/was not didymo before they called it in. Rose will follow this up with Horizons, and other regional councils if there is the need for further clarification.
- Peeky
Southland has had a great spell of weather, which has correlated with increased number of people spoken to in comparison with last year. A positive report is that the majority of people knew about didymo and Check, Clean, Dry. Peeky received a report about a large group from the Auckland Tramping Club who were in the region and planning to do 3 – 4 tracks in Fiordland, including the Dusky track. Didymo Dave reported that he had met the Auckland Tramping Club twice in the North Island and they were usually excellent at Check, Clean, Dry protocol. Nevertheless Peeky ensured that they were aware of the risks and received Check, Clean, Dry information through the operator that transported them to the Dusky. It is advantageous in Te Anau that Peeky knows most of the operators and they can pass the message on that way. Rebranding was not a focus over the busy Christmas/New Years period, but will be done as things quieten down.
Peeky had some questions about water sampling protocol and the presence of dead cells in drift nets used for sampling. Jeff provided clarification on this and on the protocol for moving between low risk to high risk sites.
One of the things Peeky got out of the Christchurch training day was suggesting to event organisers that they include a disclaimer in their application form for the competitor to sign. The disclaimer may state that the competitor acknowledges the risk of spreading freshwater pests, is aware of how to Check, Clean, Dry and will follow all procedure to the best of their ability. For the annual Wapiti Hunt and a boating event at Easter,Peeky would like to get a CCD disclaimer added in to the application form, and asked about an example/national template. Rob and Olivia also showed interest. Rose will collate the current disclaimers and look at putting together a national template that can be supplied to event organisers.
- Rob McCaw
The Environment Canterbury advocate Hannah was at Lake Benmore so could not call into the teleconference. She has been getting a good response from those on the waterways and has rebranded approximately 80% of the signage in the region. Canterbury advocate Elaine Harris will be on board in February once she has had her cast removed. Hannah has been recording where the signage is throughout the region with GIS. Rob and his team will attend the ‘Go Outdoor Show’ which will be held near Christchurch airport later in February.
- Manu
Manu has been busy with boats on ramps over Christmas and the New Year, with generally good compliance and only one case of a rubber dingy from the South Island that the owner thought he could clean with just water. Manu has also being visiting all the kayak operators, DOC campgrounds, lodges, and motels around the region, along with attending a Rotorua Tramping Club meeting. Manu also spent some time with Tracey and Adam, the advocates from Bay of Plenty Regional Council at the start of the season.
- Olivia Davidson
Shortly after the North Island training day in Rotorua, Olivia visited all the rural primary schools in the region that were near high risk rivers and discussed the threat of freshwater pests and the importance of Check, Clean, Dry, which was received well. She has been working with GIS to map the location of signs throughout the region and has rebranded approximately 90% of the signage at the same time. Fish and Game has helped Olivia locate all the angler access signs and cleaning stations. There is some confusion about who installed the Gisborne cleaning stations although they have the Hawkes Bay Regional Council logo on them. Rose will provide Olivia with a contact from Hawkes Bay Regional Council who may be able to shed some light on where the stations came from.
It was good to hear that the Canadian and French tourists Olivia spoke with had been approached in other parts of the country also. Olivia has been updating the regional contact list and putting together specific boating and tramping collateral packs. These were received well by the Wairoa Info Centre and other outlets. Other activities include visiting various freshwater clubs such as the tramping club that meets every Sunday, and going into the field with local fishers. Planning is also underway for World Wetland Day.
- Richard Mallinson
Tracey and Adam have been busy throughout the region and have events most weekends including the Waka Ama events, Jetski Championships, the Duo Shield, Blue Lake Multisport and Fly Fishing Competition at Tauranga. The advocates have been keeping in touch with event organisers and spending time out talking to people. They also spent a couple of days with Manu at the start of the season.
- Anna Paltridge
Jack is away on leave until the 12thof February.
- Jeff Donaldson
There were 4 responses to sightings throughout the Christmas and New Year break. All were found to be negative.
Jeff has cleared out his supply of old didymo/MAFBNZ signs, some to the West Coast, North Island and Fish and Game. All rebranding is mostly complete now. It seems that more collateral has been distributed this year, with high uptake from areas where it has not been received well before. It has generally been very busy in the Otago region, although there has been less boating going on.
The Wanaka Challenge, which goes for a week, starts on January 13. The Otago region have already sent out a lot of collateral prior to the event and have a stack of collateral for distribution on the day. The Motatapu challenge is also coming up with an expected 400 plus competitors from the North Island.
CCD Coordination Update
All collateral is now with the new supplier after some difficulties in the change over process. New signs are almost ready and should be printed from next week. Jake is in the process of updating the posters at the Ferry, including the posters in the light boxes. The development of bumper stickers is progressing and Jake will share the concepts with those that are interested.
MPI Coordination Update
- Research Update from recent meeting with DOC, Cawthron and NIWA
John and Rose travelled to Nelson on Tuesday to meet with Susie Wood, Jeannie Kuhajek, Cathy Kilroy, Carole-Anne Gillis, Philippe Gerbeaux and Josephin Brandes, to discuss recent results of didymo research being conducted here and overseas. It was a great opportunity to hear some of the preliminary results and discuss how they differ/correspond to results from other research. Rose will compile an update on the research results and the upcoming didymo conference in Rhode Island.
- Programme Review underway
Rose is in the process of formally reviewing the Didymo Long Term Management Plan, which still guides the current programme, so that the current “Freshwater Pest Partnership” has an updated document to guide our planning and activities.
- General Business
No General Business
Actions from this meeting
From meeting / Action / Responsibility17/01/2013 / Collate current CCD disclaimers and look at creating a national template to distribute to the teleconference group for event organisers to include in their application forms so that there is some national consistency / Rose Bird/Jake Harvey
17/01/2013 / Send Olivia Davidson contact details for Hawkes Bay Regional Council Freshwater Pest Partnership Programme partner / Rose Bird
17/01/2013 / Collate research results and didymo conference update / Rose Bird
Next Meeting– Thursday 21 February, 3.00 – 4.00pm
Phone: 083033
PIN: 680406
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