Northland boaties oppose 'user-pays' plan for marine pest battle

Keeping nasties like these Mediterranean fanworms, found on a boat hull at Whangaroa Harbour in 2015, is an expensive business. Photo / Peter de Graaf

A plan to shift the cost of fighting marine pests on to Northland boaties is opposed by many of the region's cruising clubs, who say people in infested areas should pay - not those who have so far managed to keep marine nasties out.

The Northland Regional Council is considering a new Pest and Marine Pathway Management Plan which, among other things, proposes changing the way it funds the battle to keep pests such as the highly invasive Mediterranean fanworm out of Northland waters.

In the coming year the council expects to spend $480,000 on combating marine pests, up from this year's $430,000. Much of the money will be spent on a planned 2000 hull checks.

The cost of marine pest control is currently met by all ratepayers but the council is proposing a "user-pays" system funded by a $122 annual charge on all moorings, marina berths and boat sheds. Whangarei's three large commercial marine facilities would pay $5750.

Other options are to keep the status quo or to split the costs, with a lower charge for moorings and berths and the shortfall covered by ratepayers.

Kerikeri Cruising Club commodore Doug France said the council proposal would have a major effect on club members with boaties in the area paying an extra $70,000 a year.
The costs should be borne by boats coming from infested areas, such as Auckland and Whangarei, not by boaties in areas free of fanworm, he said.

Under the Biosecurity Act if the fanworm got into the marina at Dove's Bay the club would be responsible for the costs of removing it.

"If we're responsible for the cost, we should also have a say in how it's kept out," he said.

Mr France called for a Warrant of Fitness system, as used in Fiordland, whereby boats from infested areas had to prove their hulls had been cleaned within a certain time prior to arrival.

Ultimately, however, he believed central government should be responsible for biosecurity, as was the case at airports and major ports. It shouldn't be left to regional councils and already burdened ratepayers, he said.

An even bigger change proposed by the council is the introduction of a "marine pathway plan". Instead of responding after marine pest incursions occur, the plan would allow the council to restrict boat movement between harbours and popular off-shore anchorages if the vessels don't meet standards for hull bio-fouling, in theory preventing the spread of pests in the first place.

The only area in Northland with Mediterranean fanworm so far is Whangarei Harbour, with Marsden Cove Marina spending $145,000 trying to eradicate the pest last year. It has been found on a boat at Whangaroa and a wharf at Tutukaka but is not thought to have become established in those areas. Auckland's decades-old infestation is deemed beyond eradication.

Submissions on the Pest and Marine Pathway Management Plan closed on Friday. Hearings will take place in the week starting May 22 with the exact dates and venues yet to de decided.

The council also plans to relax its rules around in-water cleaning to make it easier for boaties to keep their hulls clean. That is due to be consulted on later this year as part of the Regional Plan review.