Biosecurity New Zealand has now placed legal controls on the movement of fruit and vegetables in the Auckland suburb of Birkdale and nearby areas on the North Shore following the detection of a single male Oriental fruit fly, says Biosecurity New Zealand Commissioner North Mike Inglis.

The horticulture pest was found in one of Biosecurity New Zealand’s national surveillance traps which are placed in fruit trees in residential back yards. Other traps in the area checked in recent days showed no signs of other flies and our initial investigations have found no other signs to date.

“While there is no evidence of a breeding population at this stage, we need community help to make sure we successfully find and eradicate any further fruit flies that may be present in the area,” Mr Inglis says.

Biosecurity New Zealand staff have been busy in the area today laying more traps and giving out information to households. Around 100 additional traps which specifically target oriental fruit fly are being placed within a 1500m area of the original find.

“There have been 13 previous fruit fly incursions in New Zealand, which we have successfully eradicated so we have a very strong and detailed operational plans to guide our work.

“The rules now in place prohibit moving fruit and vegetables out of a specified controlled area around where the fruit fly was found.

“You can find a detailed map of the controlled area and a full description of the boundaries and rules in place here: https://mpi.govt.nz/fruitfly.”

The controlled area has two zones – A and B. Zone A is a 200-metre zone. Zone B covers 1500m.

Zone A

No whole fresh fruit and vegetables, except for leafy vegetables and soil-free root vegetables, can be moved outside Zone A. This applies to all produce, regardless of whether it was bought or grown.

Zone B

All fruit and vegetables grown within Zone B cannot be moved out of the controlled area.

“These legal controls are an important precaution. Should there be any more flies out there, this will help prevent their spread out of the area,” Mr Inglis says.

“It is likely the restrictions will be in place for at least two weeks.”

Signs will also be put in place notifying people of the restrictions and marking the controlled area boundaries.

“While it's disappointing to detect another Oriental fruit fly so soon after closing our previous response in Papatoetoe, the latest find highlights the value of our trapping and surveillance efforts.

“It is not unprecedented to have multiple detections. In 2019, we successfully responded to fruit fly detections in three Auckland suburbs, showing the effectiveness of New Zealand’s biosecurity system,” Mr Inglis says.

Biosecurity New Zealand is working closely with the horticultural industry.

“We all appreciate this will be inconvenient for the many people living in and around the controlled area, but following these directions is a critical precaution to protect our horticultural industries, home gardens and our New Zealand way of life.”

To report suspected finds of fruit fly, call MPI’s Pest and Diseases Hotline on 0800 80 99 66.

Detail about the controlled area

Zone A

No fruit and vegetables (other than leafy or soil free root vegetables and cooked, processed, preserved, dried, frozen and canned fruit) can be moved from Zone A of the controlled area.

Compost and green waste from gardens also cannot be moved out of this zone.

Residents in Zone A are asked to avoid composting fruit and vegetables. To dispose of fruit and vegetable waste, use a sink waste disposal unit if available, or bins provided by Biosecurity New Zealand. These bins will be delivered shortly, and residents advised of their location.

Zone B

No fruit and vegetables grown in the Zone B can be moved out of the controlled area. You are free to move commercially purchased fruit and vegetables (e.g. fruit and vegetables brought at the supermarket) out of the area. Homegrown produce waste and garden waste needs to be disposed of in Biosecurity New Zealand bins.

Check out https://mpi.govt.nz/fruitfly for further information.

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