A new state Department of Agriculture rule aims to stop the spread of little fire ants on Oʻahu.
The department this week announced it will impose quarantines on areas infested with the invasive ant species.
The one-year interim rule lets the DOA designate areas where it finds material infested with little fire ants. Material in quarantine areas can’t be transported outside. Doing so is a misdemeanor.
Little fire ants can be transported to different parts of the island through plants, fruits, vegetables, green waste and other materials.
“The Department of Agriculture is moving forward from past policies to gain more enforcement authority to stop the spread of invasive pests,” DOA Chair Sharon Hurd said in a statement. “Our concern is always that the department has enough personnel and resources to adequately and fairly administer potential quarantine actions such as those allowed by this interim rule.”
Hurd has dubbed some nurseries “bad actors” who have been selling or moving plant material that they know is infected with the ants.
The interim rule has a range of exemptions, including approved nursery stock material from a DOA-certified nursery, unsprouted seeds, plant cutting with no roots, processed plant products meant to be eaten, and plant producers used for research.
Plant material can also be moved from infested quarantine areas if treated for the ants.
Nate Dube, the manager for the Oʻahu Invasive Species Committee, said the rule change will help manage the spread of the species.
“It definitely fills a gap in response and the HDOA should be commended. They're working hard, and they don't have enough resources that they need to do a really big job, which is protecting our agricultural industry. In this case, it’s from one of the 100 worst invasive species in the world, little fire ants, specifically on Oʻahu,” Dube said.
A set of proposed permanent changes to the DOA’s administrative rules has undergone public hearings. The rules would include other invasive species, such as the coconut rhinoceros beetle, and expand to the other islands.
Dube said he hopes the interim rule isn’t “taking away momentum from the … proposed amendments that have been met with widespread support at basically every stage in the process and those were supposed to be coming online at some point this spring.”
Senate Bill 3237 and its House companion bill at the state Legislature would also try to stop the movement of pest-infested material. They would establish a nursery licensing program.
