General Aerial Operation Completed At 9.25 Am Wednesday 23 April

The latest general aerial operation to wipe out the painted apple moth was completed at 9.25am this morning (Wednesday 23 April). The operation resumed at 6.30am this morning after the threat of rain suspended operations yesterday afternoon.

An additional general operation will be carried out on Tuesday 13 May. This operation is necessary because of the mild weather conditions we have been experiencing during autumn and to ensure all caterpillars that were bred during this period are eradicated.

The operation on the 13th of May will mark the end of the summer eradication programme, which has seen remarkable reductions in the size of the painted apple moth population. For two weeks in a row, zero male moths have been caught in monitoring traps. Only 9 male moths were trapped during the entire month of March – less than 1% of the 996 males caught in March last year.

Hon Jim Sutton, Minister for Biosecurity will be making recommendations to Cabinet next month, regarding a winter eradication programme involving aerial operations in a smaller area on a less frequent basis.

The public can call the free phone 0800 96 96 96 or visit www.maf.govt.nz/painted-apple-moth for general information about the programme. People can also listen to Newstalk ZB (1080 AM), 531 pi (531 AM), Chinese Radio (AM 990) and Radio Korea (1386 AM) for updates.

Information about Aerial Operation: 0800 96 96 96

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