Plan aims to prevent breaches by invasive species

Under a plan for $39 million to be allotted annually for the next decade, the state would not only escalate its fight against invasive species at home but take measures to prevent them from reaching the islands.

The draft of the Hawaii Interagency Biosecurity Plan, scheduled to receive an airing at public hearings across the state early next month, was unveiled Wednesday in a news conference at the World Conservation Congress at the Hawai‘i Convention Center.

Scott Enright, director of the state Department of Agriculture, said Hawaii is especially vulnerable because it imports between 80 and 90 percent of its goods, including food.

“This puts us at great risk for invasive species,” Enright said. “This (plan) is essential to the state going forward.”

The plan was put together over the last year by the state Department of Agriculture with input from state, federal and county agencies, as well as industry representatives, who identified policies, actions and infrastructure needs over the next decade.

With more than 150 proposed action items, the plan covers “pre-border” measures to prevent new species from making their way here, border inspections and quarantines to detect new arrivals, and “post-border” actions against alien species that have already made their way into the state.

At a time when Hawaii is more vulnerable than ever from mosquito-borne disease, the plan also calls for a fully restored state Vector Control Branch to detect vectors of dengue, Zika, rat lungworm and more.

The branch was crippled by recession-era furloughs and budget cuts. But after dengue fever struck Hawaii island in 2015, the state Legislature allocated $1.27 million to hire 20 additional people for vector control and related tasks. Even so, the branch would still be down at least 11 positions.

Under the biosecurity plan, officials would reach out to other jurisdictions and establish agreements on pre-shipping inspection and control policies to enable the removal of invasive species before they hitchhike to Hawaii on a ship or aircraft.

“One of the things we’d like to do is shift our invasive species protection offshore,” said Darcy Oishi, Biological Control Section chief with the state Department of Agriculture.

The plan calls for new technology to help officials track what’s coming into the state and to determine which shipments are more likely to have invasive species and worth a closer inspection.

It also suggests the creation of new inspection facilities and the formulation of new coordinated plans to help agencies spring into action in response to new pest invasions.

Also under the plan, the current Hawaii Invasive Species Council would be morphed into an Invasive Species Authority to give the industry a voice in the matter, to coordinate complex interagency efforts and to bring greater resources to the problem.

More staff would be made available to state agencies to control established invasive species, bolster inspections of interisland goods and upgrade laboratories.

In addition, more support would go to local farms and nurseries via certification programs and for-import substitution programs, which encourage local production over products shipped here.

The plan would establish a ballast water and hull inspection program for arriving ships. While ballast water is a high-risk pathway for the entry of aquatic invasive species, officials said, the state currently doesn’t offer much of a defense.

“That’s a huge gap for what we’ve got currently,” said Joshua Atwood, program supervisor for the Hawaii Invasive Species Council.

“We are very susceptible in Hawaii,” said Suzanne Case, Department of Land and Natural Resources chairwoman. “We are particularly susceptible in our natural resources management. We know that our beautiful forests and our marine environment can get significantly compromised and even destroyed by invasive species that get out of hand.”

Regarding the plan, she said: “These are our marching orders going forward for the next 10 years.”

Celeste Connors, executive director of Hawaii Green Growth, applauded the effort, saying it is especially important to intercept species before they get here.