By midday yesterday, five fruit flies had been caught -- four males and one unmated female. There's more out there though -- 39 larvae and a pupa have also been discovered, confirming the presence of a mated female in the area who has so far evaded capture.
As MPI chief operations officer Andrew Coleman explains, the outbreak could have worrying repercussions.
"This insect, if established here, could have serious consequences for New Zealand's horticultural industry.
"It can damage a wide range of fruit and vegetables and could lead to restrictions on trade in some of our horticultural exports."
In Australia, where the value of susceptible produce tops A$1 billion ($1.04 billion) annually -- the fruit fly is estimated to inflict a A$150 million hit annually to the pockets of farmers, according to Summerfruit Australia.
After a fruit fly find in Whangarei in 2014, Kiwifruit Vine Health -- an organisation best known for their work on the Psa-V diseases -- commissioned a financial impact study which estimated the cost to the kiwifruit sector alone from a sustained fruit fly outbreak with severe market reactions could nudge close to the $500 million mark.
New Zealand's total fruit and vegetable industry is worth $6 billion. The direct hit could be huge if the fruit fly becomes established here and that's before ripple effects like an inevitable hit to our biosecurity reputation.
For a country as reliant on exports as New Zealand, it is a hit we cannot afford to take.
The Prime Minister has said that he has so far received a "muted response" from export markets regarding the outbreak.
But the Government is keeping a close eye on on offshore markets.
Back home, the Minister for Primary Industries, Nathan Guy, has been under fire for what is now the fourth fruit fly drama to occur since the National-led Government came to power -- the previous incidents were in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
At issue is whether New Zealand's border surveillance is lacking.
There has been one incident per year since National implemented the direct exit path for New Zealanders and Australians at our border -- with millions of passengers deemed to be low risk exempted from X-ray baggage screening.
Critics have suggested this may have been a short-sighted move, particularly as MPI warns that the "fruit fly is most likely to arrive with plane passengers bringing infested fruit in luggage".
Put on the spot in Parliament this week, Guy said "X-rays are just one of a combination of tools used at the border".
He also listed other border failings which occurred under the previous 100 per cent screening regime.
Guy has tried to reassure the horticulture industry by pointing to New Zealand's record as "one of the few countries in the world that has a proven history of successful eradication of pests".
But biosecurity shouldn't be a backwards-looking race to the bottom, but rather a platform for bipartisan co-operation.
For New Zealand's sake -- he'll be banking on MPI maintaining a spotless record on that front.
