Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment

Latest Advisories

Subscribing to get DPIPWE’s Biosecurity Advisories is the best way you can keep yourself up-to-date and fully informed about Tasmanian biosecurity issues. Our Advisories cover topics such as changes or proposed changes to Tasmania’s import regulations, animal health and welfare, plant health, forthcoming regulation reviews and opportunities for public comment, new or emerging pest/disease risks and a range of other matters related to Tasmania’s biosecurity.

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Biosecurity Advisory 15/2018 - Fruit Fly Update - 4 May 2018

A major effort is being undertaken to eradicate fruit fly from Tasmania.

Included in this effort has been:

Approximately 2500 properties have cooperated with the fruit fly response
Spot baiting undertaken at approximately 1200 properties
Surveillance through checking of around 1000 permanent traps placed around the state
Checking of an additional 333 surveillance traps placed around infected sites
Approximately 4500 trap checks undertaken
Approximately 3300 larval surveys undertaken

This work would not have been possible without the support of the community and industry which has enabled access to properties for surveillance and eradication activities as well as reported possible signed of fruit fly for follow-up investigation.

Encouragingly, there have been no further detections of fruit fly either within or outside current control areas since the last update.

On Flinders Island, no detections have been made at either Badger Corner or Trousers Point since January. At Lady Barron no detections have been made since March 21.

Within the northern control area no detections have been made at or near the Spreyton site since March 16. At George Town no detections have been made since April 2. While at the other infected site, no detections have been made since February 14.

Although no further detections have been made, there is still further work to be undertaken to ensure these areas can be declared fruit fly free again and enable access to markets where restrictions are in place.

Agreement from the Commonwealth and trading partners is required to achieve the fruit fly freedom status. This means that Tasmania needs to maintain identified processes to give certainty to the Australian Government and our trading partners that we have eradicated fruit fly from the State.

While the cooler winter weather is believed to be a barrier to fruit fly establishment in Tasmania, this alone cannot be relied on to achieve eradication so it is necessary to continue with control measures over coming months.

This means that we will need to maintain the current control areas on Flinders Island and in northern Tasmania for the coming months until agreement is reached with the Commonwealth and trading partners that they can be lifted.

The Government is continuing to work with the Australian Government to identify what measures and requirements continue to be needed and for how long to meet requirements for fruit fly freedom status being recognised.

The Department will continue to keep industry and the community informed of requirements and changes to requirements.

Mowbray update

This site was not an outbreak but was investigated in line with established protocols for single fly detections. There have been no further fruit fly detections at Mowbray. Earlier this month, a single adult male Queensland fruit fly was detected at a residential property in Mowbray. Approximately 40 fruit fly traps have been established in the surrounding area and all fruit trees and other host plants have been inspected on more than 100 properties in the immediate vicinity. Inspections consist of examining all fruit on trees for any evidence of infestation, plus taking a quantity of fruit from the tree and any fruit on the ground to be cut into small pieces to determine if any larvae are present. No further fruit flies have been detected. No evidence of larval infestation has been found. The traps will continue to be inspected for a period of nine (9) weeks after the initial detection.

Further information on fruit fly in Tasmania can be found on the DPIPWE website at: dpipwe.tas.gov.au/biosecurity-tasmania/plant-biosecurity/pests-and-diseases/fruit-fly

(4/5/2018)
Categories: Cropping; Freshwater pests; Gene technology; Horticulture; Invasive Species; Livestock; Marine pests; Natural environment; Pasture; Policy and Legislation; Seeds; Timber imports; Wildlife;

Biosecurity Advisory 16/2017 - Public comment invited on proposal to import Sumatran tiger into Tasmania

The Wildlife Management Branch received species profile to facilitate risk assessments for the potential import into Tasmania of;

Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae)

Public comments are invited by 21 December 2017

The Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) is one of six sub-species of the Tiger (Panthera tigris), all of which are either endangered or critically endangered. The Sumatran tiger is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN, and is managed in Australia and New Zealand through the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA) Australasian Species Management Program (ASMP). The ZAA program provides the maximum possible support for the conservation of Sumatran tigers in the wild via:

An assurance population against extinction in the wild;
A potential source population for demographic and/or genetic supplementation in the event of severe decline in the wild;
As a source population for research that may benefit the conservation of wild tigers or improve our understanding of the species;
As a source population for training activities that may benefit the management of wild tigers (eg, capture techniques that can be applied to conflict tigers);
As a charismatic species for exhibition and education programs to increase awareness of human impacts on wildlife and inspire support of conservation activities and actions; and
As ambassadors for fund-raising efforts for in situ conservation projects that benefit wild tigers and their habitats.

Through the ZAA ASMP the Sumatran tiger may only be offered to wildlife parks and zoos within Australia and New Zealand that are full accredited ZAA members.

The Sumatran tiger is the smallest of all Tiger species and behaviorally, are generally solitary animals.

The species profile provided has been submitted by a third party, which is predominately used to undertake the risk assessment. DPIPWE has accepted and published the information contained in the species profile in good faith but accepts no responsibility for its accuracy, nor does DPIPWE accept any responsibility associated with the publishing of this material including, but not limited to, liability associated with copyright.

Risk Assessment:

A risk assessment has been undertaken by specialist staff from the Department including, policy and wildlife officers, ecologists and veterinary officers from Biosecurity Tasmania.

The risk assessment considers three main areas of risk:

Public safety
Establishment
Consequence

The risk to public safety is considered highly dangerous in the event that the species escaped captivity.

The likelihood of establishment is considered extremely low due to an inappropriate climate match.

The consequence of establishment is considered moderate because of the low climate match, and the species is not known to be a pest, would not harm property but could harm livestock.

Taking these factors into consideration, the risk assessment concluded that the risk posed by importing Sumatran tiger into Tasmania is serious.

Mitigation:

Any decision to allow the import of Sumatran tiger into Tasmania would only be considered where:

The species is imported by a Wildlife Exhibition Licence holder that has appropriate facilities to securely house the species.
The wildlife exhibition facility can clearly demonstrate they have proficient keepers for that particular species.

Standard conditions associated with the import of a serious risk species include, but are not limited to:

Import and keeping is only permitted by facilities approved to keep the species under licence.
The wildlife facility must meet minimum standards for animal welfare, human safety and security.
The animal must not be released, or be allowed to escape from effective control.
Animal welfare requirements under the Animal Welfare Act 1993 and any approved Code of Practice or Management Plan must be met.
Individuals must be micro-chipped or otherwise identified.
The wildlife facility must be available for inspection at any reasonable time.
The maximum number of individuals of a species held at the wildlife facility is to be stipulated on the licence, taking into account relevant factors. Gender may also be stipulated.
Written approval must be sought prior to movement of animals between wildlife facilities and trade of the species under licence.
Record keeping and reporting must be provided to DPIPWE as required by DPIPWE.
Collections containing species subject to approval by DPIPWE must accord with the relevant code of practice for keeping that species.

Provided these mitigation measures are in place and continually complied with, the level of risk to Tasmania of holding the Sumatran tiger within a wildlife facility is considered reduced.

Right to Information Act 2009 and confidentiality:

Please note that submissions will be treated as public documents. By law, information provided to the Government may be provided to an applicant under the provisions of the Right to Information Act 2009.

When making your submission, please detail any reasons why you consider the information that you have provided is confidential or should not be publicly released. Your reasons will be taken into account in determining whether or not to release the information.

(11/12/2017)
Categories: Cropping; Freshwater pests; Gene technology; Horticulture; Invasive Species; Livestock; Marine pests; Natural environment; Pasture; Policy and Legislation; Seeds; Timber imports; Wildlife;

Biosecurity Advisory 15/2017 - (Re-issued) Plant Biosecurity Manual Tasmania (PBMTas): 2018 edition to publish online 13 December 2017

*Please note that this Advisory is a re-issue to rectify an incorrect link to the Tasmanian Government Gazette website that was contained in Biosecurity Advisory 14/2017

The 2018 edition of the Plant Biosecurity Manual Tasmania (PBMTas) will be published on the Biosecurity Tasmania website (www.dpipwe.tas.gov.au/biosecurity) on 13 December 2017. The manual will only be published online, and will not be available in hard copy format.

The new edition of the PBMTas includes several minor changes. Please note that these changes take legal effect from the date of public release, which is 13 December 2017.

The revised conditions and restrictions in this year’s Manual, include but are not limited to:

Flagging the introduction of a new import requirement for Tomato Potato Psyllid (IR46);
Minor corrections to entries in Table 2 Import Requirement Summary Table;
Range of changes to Biosecurity Tasmania ‘Contacts’ page;
Changes in acceptance status of several Interstate Certification Assurances (ICAs) as recognised by Biosecurity Tasmania (see Section 2.18);
Removal of a Section 68 Notice for products which may vector Green Snail (Appendix 2.3), as the notice has lapsed and is not being renewed.

In terms of more recent plant biosecurity ‘quarantine pest’ declaration changes, besides a number of pest name taxonomic updates, key changes have included new declarations of Tomato Potato Psyllid, Potato Spindle Tuber Viroid, and many weed species as Regulated Quarantine Pests of concern to the State, and the revocation of Barley Stripe Mosaic Virus to a pest of Non-Quarantine Pest status.

The annual update of Tasmania’s Regulated Quarantine Pests (RQPs - Section 12 List A and B plant pests) was also published in the Government Gazette on Wednesday 22 November 2017. A copy of this Gazette can be accessed on the Tasmanian Government Gazette website.

As in previous years the updated RQP List is included in the 2018 edition of the Plant Biosecurity Manual Tasmania (PBMTas) in Appendix 1. As a reminder, a Regulated Quarantine Pest (RQP) is a pest which:

poses a significant threat to our primary industries and/or natural environment; and is either not present in Tasmania; or present in the State but is under some form of official control program

Biosecurity Advisory 14/2017 - Plant Biosecurity Manual Tasmania (PBMTas): 2018 edition to publish online 13 December 2017

The new edition of the PBMTas includes several minor changes. Please note that these changes take legal effect from the date of public release, which is 13 December 2017.

The revised conditions and restrictions in this year’s Manual, include but are not limited to:

Flagging the introduction of a new import requirement for Tomato Potato Psyllid (IR46);

Minor corrections to entries in Table 2 Import Requirement Summary Table;

Range of changes to Biosecurity Tasmania ‘Contacts’ page;

Changes in acceptance status of several Interstate Certification Assurances (ICAs) as recognised by Biosecurity Tasmania (see Section 2.18);

Removal of a Section 68 Notice for products which may vector Green Snail (Appendix 2.3), as the notice has lapsed and is not being renewed.

poses a significant threat to our primary industries and/or natural environment; and is either not present in Tasmania; or present in the State but is under some form of official control program

(7/12/2017)
Categories: Horticulture; Seeds; Policy and Legislation; Pasture; Natural environment; Cropping; Freshwater pests; Gene technology; Invasive Species; Livestock; Marine pests; Timber imports; Wildlife;

Biosecurity Advisory 11/2017 – Nominations now open for Farm Biosecurity Producer of the Year

If you know an Australian primary prodcuer who takes biosecurity seriously and goes the extra length to avoid diseases, pests and weeds coming on to their property, then nominate them for the 2018 Farm Biosecurity Producer of the Year by 20 October 2017.

Animal Health Australia (AHA) and Plant Health Australia (PHA), through the Farm Biosecurity Program, have partnered with the Australian Government’s Department of Agriculture and Water Resources to deliver the inaugural category specifically for Australian producers as part of the annual Australian Biosecurity Awards.

Whether they work individually or with local, state or federal bodies, producers play a vital role in managing endemic diseases, pests and weeds and are crucial in detecting and containing exotic disease and pest threats. The Farm Biosecurity Producer of the Year Award was established to recognise the contribution of producers who demonstrate outstanding, proactive on-farm biosecurity practices. Australian primary producers, including individuals and organisations can be nominated. This comprises all forms of Australian farming, including large commercial operations, new and emerging niche industries and hobby-level farmers.

The 2018 Australian Biosecurity Awards will be presented at a gala dinner in Canberra in March 2018.

For information on the awards, including the nomination form, visit agriculture.gov.au/aba and for more information on the Farm Biosecurity Program’s six on-farm biosecurity essentials, visit farmbiosecurity.com.au.

(15/9/2017)
Categories: Cropping; Freshwater pests; Gene technology; Horticulture; Invasive Species; Livestock; Marine pests; Pasture; Natural environment; Policy and Legislation; Seeds; Timber imports; Wildlife;

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