BIO-MEN VISIT THE FALKLANDS
By J. Brock (FINN)
Bruce Simpson and John Hellstrom (JH) of Bio Security Limited in New Zealand are in the last few days of a visit to the Falklands. The men are here to consult with the Falkland Islands Government on a wide range of issues dealing with bio security. The men arrived on Saturday, 02 October 2004 and began work on Monday with a meeting at the Department of Mineral Resources, followed by a visit to the Planning Department. On Tuesday, they were at Mare Harbour to observe the arrival and customs clearance of the Santa Ines. In the afternoon there were meetings with the Rural Business Association and the Chamber of Commerce. Through the rest of the week, the consultants visited the Fisheries Department, Department of Agriculture, and the Attorney General, Falkland Islands Development Corporation and met with Councillors. On Friday, they observed the arrival and processing of passengers and freight from the Airbus. In the afternoon, they met with Harry Hansen of Consolidated Fisheries Ltd.
On Saturday, they were back at Mount Pleasant Complex to observe the processing of passengers and freight from the LanChile flight. After a rest on Sea Lion Island over the weekend of 09 and 10 October, the men went to Fox Bay, where they observed the processing of freight being offloaded from the St. Brandon. Tuesday saw the men visiting Falklands Conservation and the Falkland Islands Company. Other venues for the men were visits to the NAAFI and Sodexho at Mount Pleasant, as well as with the Military. A trip to see the Market Garden and a chat with the media
At the press conference held on Wednesday afternoon, only John Hellstrom was present but he spoke for the Company.
Mr. Hellstrom said that he enjoyed his work. “A key Company objective is to have fun,” he quipped as he went on to say that there was a keen interest and enjoyment of what they were doing. “One of the jobs that we did this year was to work with the film company that was making ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ in New Zealand, to help them import the animals they needed for the movie.”
He went on to say that the Falklands job had been put out for international tender and they successfully bid for it. The terms of reference were to provide recommendations for an integrated bio security system for the Falklands. “We also are going to make recommendations in regard to trade protection, which is part of bio-security but certainly only part of it,” he said.
As a result of discussions whilst here, the terms of reference were modified to include the economic impacts and all the affects of invasive species. This includes diseases and health issues.
“People like the way a thing looks - a particular plant or tree - there is a societal value to it, which is quite outside the environmental remit,” he continued. Indeed, a good bio-security system looks at all of those things and then assesses them.
According to Mr. Hellstrom, policy on agricultural diseases is covered quite well but there are ways the system could be made more efficient and more targeted. He mentioned that Foot and Mouth Disease would devastate Falklands agriculture but he mentioned that there are few pig farms in the Islands and that is a major factor in keeping Foot and Mouth Disease from spreading.
He did mention that there was a significant risk of weeds establishing themselves in the Islands. The Falklands already have an infestation of thistles, which is being kept under control. However, Caliphate on Kepple Island is, at the moment, out of control. “As you have more tourism and more roads opening up the Camp, people can move around with dirty vehicles. With more tourism, those risks increase,” he said.
FINN: I know that in many areas of the Antarctic, people are required to clean their footwear prior to landing. Are you going to recommend that we do the same?
JH: It’s for Falkland Islanders to decide how far they want to go but there’s probably a place for things like that particularly with these Antarctic bugs from the outlaying rocky islands with birds on them. We had a recent example in New Zealand, where one of our rare wild parrots - there are only 85 of them left - three died recently because they got infected as a result of dirty footwear. That was an accident by two of the people, who were just going between two of the islands, who didn’t think it was a problem.
Mr. Hellstrom, when asked if bio-terrorism was a risk in the Falklands said it hadn’t been tried in the world yet and he didn’t think the Falklands would be the first place for it to happen. “All agricultural countries take bio-terrorism very seriously,” he said.
FINN: Along the same lines, we have had two security risks at the Post Office. It was thought that some letters could contain explosives or maybe Anthrax. Have you looked at that and is it part of your remit?
JH: Yes it is. We have had a look at it and the mail from today’s airbus is going to clear shortly, I think. But there are proper systems in place now. America and New Zealand go to 100% screening of all mail and they intercept anything suspicious. There, it’s not an option. In fact, it’s a sensible option given the risks they face. Here, anything suspicious is checked. The main risk here comes through weeds because people import seeds through magazines and they get seeds for all sorts of things. So, there is a possibility there but in this environment it is difficult to get things to grow.
As well as screening the mail, there has been a card designed for passengers arriving on aircraft and vessels, giving instructions and information about what plants not to bring into the Falklands. “We are going to put more effort into education now,” he said. He added that people had to think about the risk prior to bringing anything into the Falklands that could be a danger to the environment.
Accidental infestation of weed-seeds in used vehicles, imported live animals; ships garbage and the like can be a problem. “There are about twenty pathways where weed-seeds can get into the Falklands,” he said. He saw a dozen pathways that were not closed off at the moment. “In New Zealand about $1Billion is spent on weed control with 20,000 introduced species,” Mr. Hellstrom added.
FINN: In New Zealand, a long time ago you had Grayling that was wiped out by trout.
JH: That’s what happened. It’s one of the ironies of bio-security that you are trying to protect some things that are pests in their own right. Trout’s clearly a species here in the Falklands so it would be inadvisable to import more trout as they might bring diseases in.
Aquaculture with indigenous species is a very low risk. Bio-security is meant to protect Aquaculture rather than cause problems. However, with mussels, toxic (red) tides can cause problems as well as ballast water coming down in ships. Bringing in new species can be tricky because of escape. Mr. Hellstrom says that if anyone thinks they can farm introduced species without any escaping are not thinking straight. Also, with Aquaculture here, Sea Lions are good at finding and making holes in nets. Also, due to the Liligo Squid breeding close in to shore, any introduced bio-pollutants could be a danger to them as well. “If a dirty boat comes down, it should be sent straight away,” he added. “If the oil industry took off, there would be a large body of ballast water coming down. There are ways in which that problem can be managed now. There’s an international convention which has been greatly implemented to require changing ballast water prior to entering port.” Some elements in the Antarctic Treaty are implemented here as well.
FINN: I know that we take a lot of Antarctic waste. How should we be managing that?
JH: At the moment, it comes ashore at FIGAS and sits in containers with lids on but anyone can go down and open up a lid and birds can get in and that sort of thing. Then it is taken off to the landfill at Eliza Cove. That is not a good place because it is not covered straight away. You don’t need to go to incinerators or anything like that. It’s a case of a tighter system than the one you use at the moment.
FINN: Would it be in your remit to advise about what kind of prosecution would be brought against anyone breaking the law?
JH: That’s for the Falklands to decide. We will be recommending quite strongly that there is more enforcement. There are holes in the legislation but there is plenty of legislation that could be enforced. People need to know it’s serious as well.
FINN: If that’s so, aside from the card that’s being designed for aircraft and vessel passengers, are there any other measures that you are going to be recommending making people aware of the seriousness of the problem?
JH: We recommend that there should be a whole range of things - educational - for example. Ideally, teachers could put it in the syllabus. It’s only a slight change in a Biology programme to get it included. I would imagine most children here would be exposed to Falklands biology and the natural environment. We could add that these things exist. One of the reasons why it’s so important is that most problems are found by members of the public by accident - not someone out there looking for it. That applies to the marine environment as well.
Both men left the Falklands on Saturday’s LanChile Flight and they will be writing a report in due course. “In all good contractual terms, if we don’t write a satisfactory report, we don’t get our money,” quipped Mr. Hellstrom.
