APP203875 German and Common wasps BCA Submissions 11 November 2020 Under section 34 of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 Volume 1 of 1 to release 2 parasitoids, Metoecus paradoxus and Volucella inanis, as biological control agents for the invasive German and common wasps Submission Number Submitter Submitter Organisation SUBMISSION127659 Clinton Care SUBMISSION127660 Member of Public 01 SUBMISSION127661 Peter King SUBMISSION127662 Rod Hitchmough Department of Conservation SUBMISSION127663 Member of Public 02 SUBMISSION127664 Linde Rose SUBMISSION127665 Andrew Blick SUBMISSION127666 Shane Hona Bay of Plenty Regional Council SUBMISSION127667 Bryce Buckland SUBMISSION127668 Jono Underwood Marlborough District Council SUBMISSION127669 Kane McElrea Northland Regional Council - Whangarei SUBMISSION127670 Member of Public 03 SUBMISSION127671 Davor Bejakovich Greater Wellington Regional Council SUBMISSION127672 Margaret Hicks SUBMISSION127673 Jenny Dymock Northland Regional Council - Whangarei SUBMISSION127674 Member of Public 04 SUBMISSION127675 Roger Frost SUBMISSION127676 Ricki Leahy Trees and Bees Ltd SUBMISSION127677 Barry Wards Ministry for Primary Industries SUBMISSION127678 Member of Public 05 SUBMISSION127679 Jan O'Boyle 1 Submission Number Submitter Submitter Organisation Apiculture New Zealand Science and SUBMISSION127680 Sue Carter Research Focus Group SUBMISSION127681 Andrea Dorn SUBMISSION127682 Benita Wakefield Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu SUBMISSION127683 Emma Edney-Browne Auckland Council SUBMISSION127684 David Hunter Excell Biosecurity SUBMISSION127685 Member of Public 06 The Moths and Butterflies of New SUBMISSION127686 Jacqui Knight Zealand Trust SUBMISSION127687 Clifford Mason SUBMISSION127688 Derek Craig Oak and Thistle Ltd SUBMISSION 127659 Diane Totton From: Microsoft Authenticator <[email protected] > Sent: Monday, 28 September 2020 11:31 am To: submissions Subject: Re: APP203875. Open for Public Submissions - German and common wasps biological control agent Diane, But about our native wasps ??? And we have THREE species of Paper wasps. ..Asian, European, Australian paper wasps in NZ .... they need be EDRAICATED out of New Zealand, please ! We can completely edraicate the Germany wasps and Common wasps out of New Zealand, with VASPEX which are carried to nests be workers and fed to larvaes. Vaspex kills all wadps and their larvaes. Regards Clinton Care. r SUBMISSION 127660 APP203875 - Common and german wasp BCA Submission Reference no: 1 Submitter Type: Not specified Source: Web Form Overall Position: Overall Notes: Clause What is your position on the application? Position I support the application Notes Clause The reasons for making my submissions are: (Any supporting documents can be attached at the end of this submission) Notes The reason I support this application is that we run an organic mico-orchard, of 0.5ha in the North Waikato. This produces 3-4 ton of citrus each year. A trivial amount compared to the total production of citrus in NZ. But it makes a difference to our family budget, and also our customers in Auckland really enjoy the high quality product that is much sweeter than other commercially available citrus. I am not completely against wasps. The asian paper wasps do provide an ecosystem function on our land. They predate on caterpillars and other pest insects. Thus provide some benefit. However once the giant willow aphid came down into the Waikato a few years ago, we got a massive increase in the number of over wintering queens in our firewood pile. And if it was not for someone in the neighbourhood carrying out active pest control (I suspect Vaspex) we would have been over run with wasps, both german and asian paper wasps. This is a problem for us, as we are very limited in what pest control options we can employe. Being an organic operation we are limited to mechanical destruction (works for paper wasps at night, but not german). Thus we really don't have an means of control, except for relying on our neighbours to be undertaking the poisoning operations. Therefore I fully support the wise introduction of a predator that would keep the wasp population in balance. Clause All submissions are taken into account by the decision makers. In addition, please indicate whether or not you also wish to speak at a hearing if one is held. Position No I do not wish to speak about my submission at the hearing Notes I am happy to speak to the hearing if the powers that be, have questions for me. I am expecting my submission is simple and straight forward so no verbal submission would be required. The submitter have elected to withhold their personal details from publication. SUBMISSION 127661 APP203875 - Common and german wasp BCA Submission Reference no: 2 as above, PETER JOHN KING P.O. Box 2753, CHRISTCHURCH CANTERBURY New Zealand Ph: 03-3662761 DAY 03-3125869 NIGHT [email protected] Submitter Type: Not specified Source: Web Form Overall Position: Overall Notes: Clause What is your position on the application? Position I support the application Notes I have seen a nest that had been killed and dug out in Kent UK that was 2 metres deep and a meter dia. I have seen another in Germany that was several times bigger. Clause The reasons for making my submissions are: (Any supporting documents can be attached at the end of this submission) Notes They are dangerous, ground nests allow of a walker to descend into them if trodden on, with fatal results. Clause All submissions are taken into account by the decision makers. In addition, please indicate whether or not you also wish to speak at a hearing if one is held. Position No I do not wish to speak about my submission at the hearing Notes SUBMISSION 127662 From: Rod Hitchmough [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, 28 September 2020 11:34 am To: submissions <[email protected]>; Aubanie Raynal <[email protected]> Cc: anima Lim [email protected]; Barry Wards ( MPI ) <[email protected]>; Verity Forbes <vfo rbe s @ d oc.govt. nz> Subject: RE: APP203875. Open for Public Submissions. Common and German wasps BCA Dear EPA Thank you for the opportunity to comment on APP203875 Common and German wasps BCA. DOC is strongly supportive of the proposed release of these two BCAs. Common and German wasps, as well as being a health hazard and severe nuisance to humans, very severely impact native biodiversity by preying on native invertebrates and small vertebrates and depleting the available honeydew supplies in forests. Their predation directly impacts threatened species, causing further decline, and their feeding on both invertebrates and honeydew causes severe shortages of food for birds and reptiles at critical periods of their annual breeding cycle, thereby causing declines in those species as well. Therefore any effective and safe control measure for these wasps is very welcome. The research on these two BCAs has been thorough, and we consider that it has clearly demonstrated that there is no risk to species other than the wasps themselves. Therefore we support approval for these BCAs to be released as soon as possible. Regards Rod Hitchmough Scientific Officer (Biosecurity) Department of Conservation—Te Papa Atawhai National Office, PO Box 10 420, Wellington 6143 18 Manners St, Wellington 6011 Cell: 027 408 3481 www.doc.qovt.nz Please can you let us know whether or not you wish to attend any hearing that may be held. Sorry, I always forget that. We don't want to trigger a hearing, but if one is held, we would like to present evidence. 1 SUBMISSION 127663 APP203875 - Common and german wasp BCA Submission Reference no: 3 New Zealand Submitter Type: Not specified Source: Web Form Overall Position: Overall Notes: Clause What is your position on the application? Position I oppose the application Notes Clause The reasons for making my submissions are: (Any supporting documents can be attached at the end of this submission) Notes Bad idea. Introducing another species means eventually it also will become invasive. Remember the weasels that were brought to combat the rabbits. I don't know why we still use this 19th century methods. Clause All submissions are taken into account by the decision makers. In addition, please indicate whether or not you also wish to speak at a hearing if one is held. Position No I do not wish to speak about my submission at the hearing Notes The submitter have elected to withhold their personal details from publication. SUBMISSION 127664 APP203875 - Common and german wasp BCA Submission Reference no: 4 Linde Wild Rose 404A Pt Chevalier Rd Auckland New Zealand [email protected] Submitter Type: Not specified Source: Web Form Overall Position: Overall Notes: Clause What is your position on the application? Position I support the application Notes I farm Monarch butterflies and wasps are devastating those populations as well bees and many other insect populations and other methods are not effective. Clause The reasons for making my submissions are: (Any supporting documents can be attached at the end of this submission) Notes I farm Monarch butterflies and wasps are devastating those populations as well bees and many other insect populations and other methods are not effective Clause All submissions are taken into account by the decision makers. In addition, please indicate whether or not you also wish to speak at a hearing if one is held. Position No I do not wish to speak about my submission at the hearing Notes APP203875 - Common and german wasp BCA Submission Reference no: 5 Andrew John Blick 108 Whangamoa Drive Okere falls 3074 Rotorua Bay of plenty New Zealand Ph: 0273951629 [email protected] Submitter Type: Not specified Source: Web Form Overall Position: Overall Notes: Clause What is your position on the application? Position I oppose the application Notes Wasps are condoned out of hand without proper holistic assessment. Clause The reasons for making my submissions are: (Any supporting documents can be attached at the end of this submission) Notes Having overcome my fear of wasps I respect them as an amazing insect that has important role in nature where ever it lives.