U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists issued an emergency action notification after discovering noxious weed seeds and a plant pathogen in a shipment of thatched grass for roofing material at the port in Honolulu.
Agriculture specialists, while inspecting a shipment in early February, detected a large number of Imperata cylindrica, a species of a federal noxious weed.
They also found black spots on the stems of the grass, identified as a plant pathogen, Massariothea botulispora (Teng).
The agriculture specialists issued an emergency notification requiring the items be immediately exported from the United States.
"Some products can be a vehicle for harmful invasive species that can have a devastating impact on our nation’s agriculture industry, natural resources, as well as the economy," Bruce Murley, area port director for Honolulu.
Newswatch – Hawaii News – Starbulletin.com
by Heather Hauswirth
Guam – Department of Agriculture Wildlife Biologist Diane Vice confirms that customs officials discovered a Coqui Frog inside a live plant shipment that came in from Hawaii yesterday. This is the fourth Coqui Frog spotted on Guam.
The frog is of particular concern to biologists like Vice because she says it can rapidly reproduce and that they are notoriously loud. The coqui frog is a proving to be an expensive problem in the state of Hawaii where there are efforts underway to try to curtail their growth, which have cost Hawaii millions of dollars.
Said Vice, "It’s really important we don’t get the coqui frog on Guam because they really make loud noises, which can affect our every day life, our sleep as well as economically it has been very detrimental in Hawaii."
Coqui frog discovered in Hawaii plant shipment – KUAM.com-KUAM News: On Air. Online. On Demand.
Should the layoffs go forward in November as planned by Gov. Linda Lingle, not all Maui-based inspectors will disappear, according to Carol Okada, manager of the Plant Quarantine Bureau in the state Department of Agriculture.
There are inspectors in 10 positions covered by special funds who will not be affected, including six funded by the state Department of Transportation. But the six positions paid out of the state’s general fund are on the budget-cutting hit list.
Anna Mae Shishido, Maui County supervisor of the Maui Plant Quarantine Branch, wrote a letter expressing her concern about the impact of the layoffs to two Maui lawmakers – state Sen. J. Kalani English and Rep. Joe Souki.
She said the Transportation Department’s special fund specifies that the six inspectors it pays for would work at the Kahului Airport – which means they wouldn’t do maritime inspections.
As a result, Matson and other containers carrying produce, animal feed and other agricultural material would need to go to Honolulu first for inspection, Shishido said. Diverting that cargo to Oahu would mean extra handling of Maui-bound containers, adding delays and costs for consumers.
The layoffs would also mean that more than two dozen certified nurseries on Maui would no longer be able to self-certify their plant shipments to other states because state inspectors would not be available to conduct semi-annual nursery re-certification inspections, she said.
Shishido said she was alarmed about the potential for infestations of alien species without maritime inspections on Maui.
"We anticipate increased infestations of stinging nettle caterpillars and coqui frogs on Maui and new infestations of little fire ants and the varroa mite, which have not been found here so far," she said. "The safeguards we have worked so hard to put in place will be drastically decreased or completely gone. Maui will be exposed."
Layoffs could leave island vulnerable to alien species – Mauinews.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Visitor’s Information – The Maui News
Reminder…Herbicide Field Day on Wedelia & Sedges
This Friday, April 4, 2008
To: Landscape & Golf Course Industries
Wedelia is often used as a groundcover. However, some people consider it a weed and efforts are currently being taken to place it on the invasive weed list. Recently an herbicide trial was conducted with Sedge-Hammer (SledgeHammer | Sledge-Hammer), Manage, Certainty, Monument, and Image for the control of wedelia, purple nutsedge, green kyllinga, and white kyllinga. You are invited to attend a field day to observe the herbicide effects on wedelia and the early results on these sedges.
Date: April 4, 2008 (Friday)
Place: Meet at Maui Community College Greenhouse, Kahului
Time: 11:00 to 12:00 pm
Registration Deadline April 3.
To register you may call the Cooperative Extension Service at 244-3242 x222 or x230.
Please notify us if you require special assistance or if you need directions to attend this event.
Educational Credits
- One (1) pesticide credit from the Hawaii Dept. of Agriculture will be provided for categories 3 (Ornamental & Turf) and 10 (Demonstration, Research & Instruction).
- Golf Course Superintendents Association of America educational credits will also be awarded.
- One (1) UH/CES Landscape Advisor IPM credits will be provided.
This project is supported in part by the County of Maui.
Norman M. Nagata
Extension Agent (Landscape, Turfgrass, Ornamental Plant)
University of Hawaii at Manoa, Cooperative Extension Service
310 Kaahumanu Avenue, Bld. 214; Kahului, Maui, Hawaii 96732
Tele. (808)244-3242 x 230, Fax (808)244-7089
HONOLULU, June 8 (UPI) — An invasive caterpillar with a nasty sting has turned up on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
The stinging nettle caterpillar first entered Hawaii through Hilo via an illegal shipment of seedlings from Taiwan in 2001, KITV-TV, Honolulu, reported.
The problem was brought under control around Hilo, but now the pest has jumped to Oahu, where it was discovered last week in a commercial nursery.
“If you rub against the caterpillar, it has a very strong burn (which) can burn for a few hours,” said Neil Rheimer of the state Department of Agriculture.
The state is setting up traps at the nursery to attract the moths that lay eggs and spread the problem. The caterpillars were discovered on raphis palm trees after workers complained about being stung last week.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
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