An innovative new Civil Defence campaign will help to improve the emergency preparedness of people under the age of 30, says Civil Defence Minister Nathan Guy.

“The new public education campaign targets people aged 18-30 who have a lower rate of preparedness for emergencies than the average New Zealander,” says Mr Guy. 

The campaign forms part of the Never Happens? Happens public education programme by the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management, which was launched last July with a multi-phase rollout that included videos from Hunt for the Wilderpeople actress Rachel House.

“We know that young people are great at getting prepared when they’re properly motivated, and this campaign taps into that by reinforcing that preparing for an emergency is easier than you think.

“A big barrier to getting prepared is the false perception that it’s too hard or costly. The truth is, the most important thing to do is sit down with flatmates, friends or family and come up with a plan about what to do if an emergency happens.”

The innovative, low-budget ($160,000) campaign emphasises that it’s no harder than getting ready for something like a festival, a road trip, or a Netflix binge session.

‘If you’re going to a festival with friends, you’d have a plan about what to do or where to meet if you got separated and you lost contact. Planning for an emergency isn’t hugely different.”

Mr Guy says Ministry research shows a different approach is needed for younger people who are likely to have a more independent lifestyle and different priorities when it comes to time and money.

“We know that young people have a great capacity to self-organise and look after others – we saw that with the Student Volunteer Army in Canterbury. This campaign encourages them to make sure they are also looking after themselves and their mates.”

The campaign will involve posters, digital advertising, social media, and working through Civil Defence Emergency Management groups to target residents, employers and tertiary institutions.

For more tips on getting prepared, and to make a plan in just a few minutes, visit www.happens.nz

Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy has welcomed the election of a national body to represent all 14 Rural Support Trusts across the country.

“Rural Support Trusts do fantastic work supporting our rural communities in tough times, and this new central body will make them more efficient and effective,” says Mr Guy.

“It will provide single point of contact for other national organisations and the Government, and help the different regions share resources and experience.

“Rural Support Trusts operate independently in their areas, staffed by local people who really know their local communities.

“All Trusts have trained facilitators who can assist rural people with a range of issues. The facilitators are all local people who know the area and the farming or growing industries, and much of their work is helping sometimes isolated rural communities keep connected and build morale when the going is tough.

“The value of the Rural Support Trusts in times of adversity has been made very clear in the recent months with droughts across the country, the earthquake in Kaikoura, Marlborough and the Hurunui, and floods in the Bay of Plenty.

“The Trusts and National Council work closely with MPI, which provides partial funding along with their own fundraising work.”

In the last two years the Government has provided extra funding to Rural Support Trusts to improve access to mental health support in the rural community. Coordinators have been trained to recognise and manage signs of depression or extreme stress, and are connected to rural health professionals.

In its first meeting the National Council elected its first Chairperson, Waikato RST chair Neil Bateup, and Gavan Herlihy from Otago was appointed Vice Chairperson. The Rural Support National Council will be structured as a charitable trust responsible to the Trusts around the country.

About Rural Support Trusts

Rural Support Trusts provide free and confidential assistance to farmers and growers facing challenges; climate, financial or personal.  They are well-placed to point people in the right direction for further advice and help. Some Rural Support Trusts have been around since the 1980s to provide support on hardship or assistance in adverse events, such as the Otago RST. Others, like Taranaki, have been set up out of Federated Farmers. A number of Trusts, such as Northland, were formed or strengthened with (then) MAF’s assistance after the On-Farm Adverse Events Recovery Framework came into effect in 2007. For further information on the Trusts visit: http://www.rural-support.org.nz/. Call 0800 RURAL HELP - for a confidential chat about you, your business, the weather, your finances; or a neighbour, partner, friend, family member, or worker. 

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Conservation Minister Maggie Barry say wilding pines control work has nearly reached its first year target of a million hectares.

“20 per cent of New Zealand will be covered in unwanted wilding conifers within 20 years if their spread isn't stopped. They already cover more than 1.8 million hectares of New Zealand and until now have been spreading at about 5 per cent a year,” Mr Guy says.

“The National Wilding Conifer Control Programme was put in place in 2016 to prevent their spread and systematically remove them from much of the land already taken over.” 

Ms Barry says wildings compete with native plants and animals for sunlight and water and can severely alter natural landscapes.

“The control programme is to protect our conservation land, iconic landscapes, tourist routes, high country farming heritage and sensitive water catchments from these invaders,” Ms Barry says.

“Last year the Government committed an additional $16 million to wilding control over the next four years and that’s on top of an $11 million already spent each year.”

“Control work has involved targeted aerial spraying of individual trees in remote areas where there is light wilding infestation, and ground control in more heavily infested areas. The programme this year covers 14 initial priority areas, including extensive areas of conservation land and farmland in Central North Island, Marlborough, Canterbury, Otago and Southland.”

Minister Guy says wilding conifer are incredibly hard to get rid of once they become established.

“Prevention is the best form of management. Removing young seedlings before they start producing seeds costs less than $10 per hectare, but removing mature trees can cost over $10,000 per hectare.”

Minister Barry says wildings are public enemy number one in the War on Weeds and top the Dirty Dozen 2017 list.

“The Department of Conservation’s Community Fund has financed a number of community groups, trusts and organisations to carry out wilding conifer control ion work in 2016/17, complementing the work of the national control programme by reducing wilding conifer spread in low density areas.”

The Wilding Conifer Control Programme has already started preliminary planning for 2017/18 control operations.

The Programme is being implemented by the Ministry for Primary Industries, Department of Conservation, and Land Information New Zealand in partnership with other central government agencies, iwi groups, local government, forestry and farming industries, landowners, researchers and community trusts and organisations.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has welcomed $388,000 in new development grant funding for the Kurow Duntroon Irrigation Company (KDIC) from Crown Irrigation Investments Ltd.

“This grant is an important step forward for this project which could have major benefits for the North Otago region,” says Mr Guy.

The funding is required to complete the remaining work to reach construction commencement and confirm the commercial viability of the proposed scheme.

“The current scheme is aging and needs updating. This project will mean water is used much more efficiently and effectively, using the latest design and technology.

“Importantly it will deliver real environmental benefits by reducing the irrigation take from small tributaries and help improve minimum flows.

“Irrigation schemes in other parts of the country have brought economic and environmental gains. A reliable source of water gives certainty to farmers and growers, helps them plan ahead and deal with droughts and dry spells.” 

All decisions by Crown Irrigation Investments are made by an experienced, independent board and management team.. Strict conditions have to be met including sound governance and matched funding.

A biosecurity response is underway after the detection of myrtle rust on mainland New Zealand for the first time, Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Conservation Minister Maggie Barry have announced today.

Myrtle rust is a fungal disease which can seriously damage various species of native and introduced plants in the myrtle family, including pohutukawa, rata, manuka, gum, bottlebrush and feijoa.

“The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) was notified on Tuesday evening by a nursery in Kerikeri that five pohutakawa seedlings had suspected myrtle rust, and laboratory testing has now confirmed this,” says Mr Guy.

“MPI has moved quickly and initiated a Restricted Place notice to restrict the movement of any plants and people at the site, and is treating nursery stock with fungicide spray as a precaution. Work is also underway to trace any stock that has left the nursery and all other nurseries in Kerikeri are being inspected today.

“The disease is prevalent in eastern Australia and Tasmania, and was discovered on Raoul Island in late March this year.

“Myrtle rust spores are microscopic and can easily spread across large distances by wind. Officials believe that wind was the likely pathway of incursion into Raoul Island, and it’s likely that wind has carried spores to mainland New Zealand from Australia.”

Conservation Minister Maggie Barry says the incursion could have serious consequences for some native species.

“Myrtle rust generally attacks soft new leaf growth, and severe infestations can kill affected plants. This could include native species like the pohutakawa and the rata,” says Ms Barry.

In Australia, the fungus has had different levels of impact on myrtle species, with some more seriously affected than others.

“Myrtle rust has long been expected to arrive in New Zealand, and since the Australian outbreak began in 2010, the Government has worked on a range of measures to help manage and adapt to the fungus in the long term if necessary,” says Ms Barry.

“This includes accelerating work already underway to collect and store germplasm from affected species, searching for signs of resistant myrtle strains which could be incorporated into a breeding programme and monitoring at 800 locations across the country.”

“DOC will also be conducting inspections of our myrtle species on public conservation land in Northland for any early signs of the fungus.”

There is no known method of controlling the disease in the wild, apart from application of fungicide in very small areas as a last resort. Even if eradication is achieved, there is an ongoing risk of reinfection from Australia. 

“It’s very disappointing that this fungal disease has appeared in New Zealand. However, I want to thank the staff and owner of Kerikeri Plant Production nursery for making such a prompt notification to MPI,” says Mr Guy. 

Anyone believing they have seen myrtle rust on plants in New Zealand should call MPI on 0800 80 99 66. It is very important not to touch the plants or attempt to collect samples as this will spread the disease.

In particular, anyone who has purchased any plants from the myrtle family in the last month should check for physical signs and contact MPI if any are seen.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has welcomed the official start of construction on Stage 2 of Central Plains Water, which could have economic benefits of up to $374 million.

Mr Guy accompanied Prime Minister Bill English in Darfield today to cut the ribbon signalling the start of construction on the project which will have the capacity to irrigate an additional 20,000 hectares.

“This will be a real boost to the Canterbury regional economy with around 1130 new jobs expected as a result. A reliable source of water gives farmers certainty and options to invest in mixed farming operations including arable, sheep and beef finishing, dairy farming and horticulture,” says Mr Guy.

“Importantly, it also has many environmental benefits. Using alpine sourced water rather than ground water is environmentally beneficial for Canterbury as it reduces pressure on aquifers which are needed to replenish flows in lowland streams.

“Replacing groundwater with river and stored alpine river water has the potential to improve water flows into Lake Ellesmere - Te Waihora, helping the long-term process of improving its water quality.

“For any farm to qualify for scheme water it has to prepare a plan with a nutrient budget and meet high standards.”

Crown Irrigation Investments Limited (CIIL) has committed to providing a $65 million secured loan to CPW to part-fund Stage 2 of the CPW Scheme. Crown Irrigation’s partial funding of Stage 2 means that the project can be future-proofed for long term demand.

CIIL invested $6.5 million into CPW Stage 1 which has since been fully repaid, and full repayment is expected for the Stage 2 investment as well.

A new Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF) project “SMART Tools and Tips for Irrigators” is aimed at improving management practices for irrigators to deliver better environmental and economic outcomes. The funding is for $294,400 and will be led by Irrigation New Zealand.

Another new SFF project led by Federated Farmers will be looking at the impacts of irrigation on soil water holding properties. This project worth $295,950 will help both farmers and regional councils by enabling more effective and efficient use of irrigation water, reduced drainage and reduced loss of soluble nutrients.

While in the region Mr Guy also visited the Hinds/Hekeao Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) project site near Ashburton.

The pilot project, which began in February 2016, is testing the feasibility of adding alpine sourced water to shallow groundwater to help recharge lowland streams during dry periods and reduce nitrate levels in the groundwater.

“I was pleased to hear that in the first year of this project, the bores monitoring groundwater conditions downstream have shown positive improvements in both water quantity with rising levels and in water quality with decreasing concentrations of nitrates.”

A recent report by NZIER found that irrigation contributes $2.2 billion to the national economy and this has the potential to increase further.

More information on Central Plains Water is available at: http://www.cpwl.co.nz/

It’s great to be here tonight celebrating two important milestones for the Orange Roughy fishery.

The first is Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for several key orange roughy fisheries, and secondly to launch the book ‘Roughy on the Rise’ by Tim Pankhurst.

MSC certification is a great success and recognition for a fishery that was in real trouble in the early 1990s.

A huge amount of work has gone into rebuilding this fishery over the years by industry and successive Governments. To now have it recognised as sustainable by an independent, international body is worth celebrating.

The certification follows two years of review and assessment by an independent team of experts.

The turn-around in this fishery is a remarkable story and it’s well captured in Tim’s book, telling the story from a range of different viewpoints

What struck me about the book is some of the incredible pictures from the 1980s and 1990s of fisherman pulling up enormous catches. It was a real gold-rush but as a nation and an industry, we have learnt a lot from mistakes made in those days.

Since then scientific research has given us better information and new fisheries technology has helped this fishery to rebuild.

Many international markets are now demanding MSC certification as a baseline requirement, so to have this for such a valuable export fish stock is extremely important. This is the sixth species to achieve MSC certification.

It shows our Quota Management System is flexible and effective, and helps support the global reputation of New Zealand as being committed to developing sustainable fisheries.

MSC certification sends  a message to consumers here and around the world that this is a premium product harvested with care.

Going forward, this kind of certification is going to become more important because consumers are demanding higher standards.

As a nation, we need to unashamedly target the wealthiest consumers because that’s where the value is.

As a Government we’ve set a goal of doubling the value of primary sector exports by 2025. We can’t double the volume of fish caught or milk produced, so it’s about moving up the value chain.

Overall we produce enough food as a nation to feed 40 million people so we need to be targeting the wealthiest consumers.

These kinds of consumers have increasingly high standards. They want to know the story behind their product, where it comes from and where it was produced.

That’s why your social licence to operate has never been more important.

Social licence and the Future of our Fisheries

This is one of the key drivers behind “The Future of our Fisheries”, a major review to modernise and future-proof our fisheries system which was launched in 2015.

A public discussion document was released late last year and 426 submissions were received. The three strategic proposals are maximising value from our fisheries, better fisheries information and more agile and responsive decision-making.

A part of this review is looking at ways to improve discard rules, and again we received a lot of feedback on this which we are working through.

There are also two regulatory changes outlined to allow for the Integrated Electronic Monitoring and Reporting System (IEMRS), which includes cameras, geospatial monitoring and electronic reporting, and providing flexibility for developing new trawl technologies.

The first stage of IERMS begins on 1 October this year with electronic reporting and geospatial monitoring rolled out, and then cameras on boats from 1 October next year.

This will be world-leading technology and give us arguably the most transparent fishery anywhere in the world.

This is a big change for the fishing industry and I acknowledge you for your support. The fact that most have accepted the need for changes shows you are serious about transparency.

We realise it will cost commercial fishers anything from $5,000 to $18,000 per vessel, and at the same time MPI will have added costs to support the software and back office functions.

Approval to make changes to regulations to allow IEMRS and new net technology passed through Cabinet recently, which is an important step forward.  The next stage is to work with you the industry to develop the detailed requirements for the system.

We will be setting up a technical group to help with the rollout of this technology to make sure it is practical and delivers the outcomes we all want.

Overall these are the biggest changes to fisheries management in a generation, something I think many critics have failed to notice or recognise.

What is important is for your industry to be showing leadership and talking to the wider public, telling your story about who you are and what you do. So I’m pleased to hear you will soon be running a television campaign involving real people in the industry talking about your values, challenges and achievements.

MPI is also continuing to engage constructively with Te Ohu Kaimoana (TOKM) regarding the Future of our Fisheries strategic proposals.

I want to acknowledge the critical role of Māori in all of these fisheries issues. Tangata whenua are inextricably linked to New Zealand’s seas and fisheries by whakapapa, and over 200 kaitiaki have been appointed to exercise guardianship over marine resources. The ongoing productive relationship with Te Ohu Kaimoana (TOKM) is a very important one to me and to MPI.

The seafood industry

A couple of weeks ago MPI released their updated Situation and Outlook for the Primary Sector (SOPI). It forecasts seafood export earnings will grow by an average of 4.6 percent per year, reaching $1.9 billion in the year ending June 2018.

Your industry supports more than 8,000 jobs and has a total economic impact of $2.5 billion to New Zealand.

Your exports are worth the same dollar amount as the wine industry, which is widely celebrated. The two industries have a lot in common – both producing a high quality, outstanding product unique to New Zealand.

An initiative I noticed recently is the NZ Wine Pure Discovery Project, run by NZ Winegrowers and Auckland Airport, aimed at encouraging tourists to explore our wine growing regions. This is the kind of idea that might have merit for the seafood industry to consider.

As a Government we’re working hard to improve your trade access overseas.

Last month Prime Minister Bill English announced Trade Agenda 2030 with the ambitious goal of having free trade agreements cover 90 per cent of New Zealand’s goods exports by 2030, up from 53 per cent today. We are backing this up with $91 million in new funding over 4 years to help achieve this.

As part of this, Trade Minister Todd McClay and I announced new funding of $35 million to MPI to help further support our primary sector exporters. It will allow MPI to better tackle non-tariff barriers that the fishing sector and the rest of the primary sector faces, improve trade access as well as navigating international regulatory requirements through the establishment of an Export Regulatory Advice Service

We will also expand MPI’s Economic Intelligence Unit to provide market insights and economic information to exporters, and we’ll be putting more MPI officials in Europe and South East Asia, as well as a new embassy in Dublin and a new High Commission in Sri Lanka.

This updated trade strategy is timely given all the massive changes in the global landscape over the last 12 months. Not everyone predicted Brexit or the US election results, which just shows we need to be nimble-footed and stay focussed on the many opportunities ahead of us.

Moving up the value chain

There is a lot of work underway from industry and Government to help move up that value chain I talked about earlier, and it is the first of three strategic proposals in the Future of our Fisheries discussion document.

It’s estimated that greater catch quality and value, such as moving hoki from a commodity to premium product could be worth up to $100 million annually.

Plant & Food Research scientists have developed a new method for extracting and formulating collagen from hoki skins, a by-product of the seafood industry, for use as an industrial biomaterial.

Another good example is the $48 million Precision Seafood Harvesting programme, developing revolutionary new net designs that allow fish to be landed in much better condition than traditional trawls.

Last year saw a big milestone with the launch of the new premium seafood category ‘Tiaki’.

Customers around the world will know when they see the Tiaki label that the fish has been caught and carefully selected in a revolutionary way. They will also be able to use their smartphone to connect with where and how their fish was caught via a specially designed traceability app.

The programme is expected to deliver around $44 million in economic benefits per year by 2025.

This kind of technology is world-leading. Another great example is the trawl net technology designed by Hawke's Bay fisherman Karl Warr, who is off to the United States after being named a finalist for the international Seafood Champion Award for Innovation.

Aquaculture update

There’s also a lot of work underway to support the aquaculture industry’s goal of becoming a $1 billion industry by 2025.

This week we saw a big breakthrough for another PGP programme – the first crop from the SPATnz hatchery will soon be ready to harvest and to eat, after years of investigative work.

This is a big step forward for the mussel industry which has traditionally relied on harvesting wild spat, which can be unreliable.

It is a potential game changer for the industry, opening up all sorts of opportunities around selective breeding and developing products such as nutraceuticals and other high value products.

In the Marlborough Sounds we are considering a proposal to move some existing salmon farming space to a different part of the Sounds where it could be better for the environment and local economy.

Public consultation on this closed on Monday 27 March, with MPI receiving around 600 submissions from right across the community.

This week an independent panel of three resource management experts have started public hearings on the comments that have been submitted during the consultation phase. The panel has invited iwi to meet and hear their views.

MPI has also set up a dedicated group to engage directly with iwi to discuss any concerns and explore options to address them.

I expect that people will hold a variety of views about how best to achieve long-term sustainability of salmon farming in the Marlborough Sounds, and I’m interested in all feedback we receive on the relocation proposal.  I look forward to receiving the report and recommendations from the independent panel.

MPI, MFE and DOC are developing a National Direction for aquaculture, working with an expert Reference Group comprised of representatives from local government, iwi, the aquaculture industry and environmental organisations.

The intent of national direction is to provide greater certainty and efficiency in the renewal of consents   for existing marine farms.  National direction will also strengthen biosecurity management practices. We are on track to release document for public consultation in the near future.

In Kaikōura the earthquakes have had a devastating impact on the paua fishery with over 20% of adult paua habitat covering 94 hectares lost due to uplift. The area where juvenile paua live has been impacted to an even greater degree.

We have put $2 million towards investigating the impact of the earthquakes on these fisheries, and have extended the temporary closure of this fishery which I’m pleased was widely supported by local industry who recognise the need to recover and rebuild.

Recreational fishers

Finally, we are also putting an increasing focus on recreational fishing, recognising how important this is to New Zealanders. There are around 700,000 recreational fishers who contribute around $946 million to the wider economy.

Recreational fishers harvest more than 40 per cent of the snapper and kahawai landed in New Zealand, and more than 70 per cent of the kingfish.

MPI now has a dedicated recreational fishing team to strengthen communication and engagement with recreational fishers. As part of this it is developing regional advisory groups and drop-in sessions, and developing communication plans to regularly inform recreational fishers directly on fisheries management issues (including through social media).

We are also committed to establishing recreational fishing parks in the Marlborough Sounds and the Hauraki Gulf.

We expect that the recreational fishing parks will be established after the Marine Protected Area legislation is passed.

We aim to make further progress this year, and expect that there will be further opportunity for engagement with stakeholders.

MPI is also developing a Blue Cod National Plan to provide an overarching framework for management of this fishery, involving recreational fishers throughout the process.

Conclusion

So there is a lot of work ahead of all of us – industry and Government – in building value, telling our story and improving our practices. But there is also a huge amount of potential and success we should be proud of, like the orange roughy story.

Thank you and congratulations to everyone involved.

A major breakthrough in breeding mussels commercially has been welcomed by Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy.

“The first harvest of high-value greenshell mussels from a purpose-built hatchery means the industry will be less reliant on collecting unreliable wild spat,” says Mr Guy.

“Currently most wild spat is collected from seaweed on 90 Mile Beach. This innovation gives much more certainty to growers and means they can develop a higher value product with the characteristics consumers want, like size, colour and taste.

“It also means certainty of supply which is very important for markets.

“This is a key milestone in a $26 million Primary Growth Partnership programme called SPATnz, with equal co-funding from the Ministry for Primary Industries and Sanford Ltd.

“This is a great example of industry and Government working together to develop high-end products, adding value to one of New Zealand’s most valuable seafood industries.

“It also comes nearly two years to the day after I opened New Zealand’s first purpose-built mussel hatchery in Nelson.”

The SPATnz programme is aiming to generate economic benefits for New Zealand of $81 million by 2026.

If the technology developed by the programme is adopted more broadly throughout the sector, the benefits could be worth nearly $200 million.

 

About the Primary Growth Partnership

The PGP aims to boost the value, productivity and profitability of our primary sector through investment between government and the food, beverage, fibre and other industries. It provides an essential springboard to enable New Zealand to stay at the forefront of primary sector innovation. Government and industry are co-investing $759 million over time into 22 PGP programmes (3 completed and 19 underway). Once contracted, the new Sheep – Horizon Three PGP programme will add to these figures. Decisions on whether or not to approve a programme are made by the Director-General of the Ministry for Primary Industries, under recommendation from the independent Investment Advisory Panel (IAP). PGP programmes are generally long-run programmes of five to seven years’ duration and are subject to oversight and monitoring by an independent Investment Advisory Panel and MPI. Monitoring requirements include programme steering groups, quarterly progress reporting, annual plans, financial audits, and progress reviews, along with an independent evaluation of the overall programme.  Government funding is only released to programmes on receipt of invoices for work completed in accordance with programme plans. Overall, the whole PGP is estimated to contribute $6.4 billion to New Zealand’s GDP from 2025, to assist towards reaching the goal of doubling the value of primary sector exports by 2025. More information is available at: http://www.mpi.govt.nz/funding-and-programmes/primary-growth-partnership/

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy says activities to prevent the establishment of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) have ramped up over summer and helped raise public awareness of what is a serious biosecurity threat.

“This is a major agricultural pest worldwide, as well as a household nuisance. While it is found here from time to time, if it became established it would have significant economic and social impacts,” says Mr Guy.

“BMSB has been rapidly spreading across the world and there have been increasingly more finds detected at the New Zealand border. Three confirmed post border finds occurred during February, all reported by members of the public.

“I applaud those members of the public who notified MPI of the suspected finds and enabled the Ministry to urgently investigate.  Their actions are a great example of what we are seeking to achieve through the 2025 Biosecurity Direction Statement in having a biosecurity team of 4.7 million people.

“As a result of the finds MPI stepped up a local response in each case involving laboratory testing, site inspections and deploying surveillance traps. Thankfully none of the finds were part of an established population of stink bugs in the area.

“Other work underway includes detector dog training, research on the effectiveness of lures, obtaining approval for chemical sprays and public awareness advertising and campaigns.

“There is also mandatory treatments of vehicle and machinery pathways, and targeted verification inspections on sea containers. MPI will soon be visiting European exporters of high risk cargo and working with them to mitigate these risks.

“Proactive campaigns over summer have included radio and facebook advertising and even ads on screens at service stations near ports so people continue to report any sightings to MPI on 0800 80 99 66. The recent reports from members of the public are evidence these campaigns are working.

“MPI is also now investigating the potential use of parasitical ‘samurai’ wasps, and an application to the Environmental Protection Agency is planned for later this year.

“Biosecurity is a shared responsibility for all New Zealanders, so it is pleasing to have industry and the wider public helping out. MPI is working closely with industry partners to the Government-Industry Agreement for biosecurity on this issue.

“The Government’s investment into Biosecurity is at a record high of $224 million which has helped employ new staff, new dog teams and new x-ray machines. We also have the new border clearance levy, a new inflight video for international passengers, and an $87 million biocontainment laboratory under construction at Wallaceville.

“The recently released Biosecurity 2025 Direction Statement is also setting a future direction with a vision of a biosecurity team of 4.7 million people.”

BMSB feeds on a wide variety of valuable crops like grapes, kiwifruit, apples, citrus and stone fruit, and emit a pungent odour when squashed. Once established they can be hard to kill.

BMSB is native to Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan. There are established populations in the USA, Canada, and a number of European countries, including Italy.

More information is available at https://www.mpi.govt.nz/protection-and-response/responding/alerts/brown-marmorated-stink-bug/

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy is welcoming new figures forecasting that primary sector exports will reach $37.5 billion for the year ending June 2017, up $0.8 billion from the previous December forecast.

“This is the first time the Ministry for Primary Industries has produced a quarterly update of its Situation Outlook for Primary Industries (SOPI) which will give us a more accurate picture during the year,” says Mr Guy. 

“Next year overall primary sector exports are expected to grow by 9.7% to $41 billion. It shows we have a strong and diversified primary sector with sectors like forestry and horticulture continuing to do well. It’s also pleasing to see dairy on the rebound after a tough few seasons.

“This year is likely to be more challenging for the sheep meat sector with market volatility and the UK’s exchange rate fluctuations.

“This is why the Government is strongly supporting the meat industry through the Primary Growth Partnership, with around half the funding going to red meat projects. Access to China for chilled meat is also a major positive, along with re-negotiated access to Iran.”

The SOPI report was released by Mr Guy at the Te Hono National Summit for primary industries leaders in Christchurch today. A full copy is available at http://www.mpi.govt.nz/about-mpi/corporate-publications/