37068 (2025). Lan Pham to the Minister for Biosecurity

37068 (2025). Lan Pham to the Minister for Biosecurity: What is the total estimated area in hectares, if any, of Caulerpa infestation in Aotearoa, and how does this compare with the estimated total area in the previous 5 years?

Hon Andrew Hoggard: We cannot estimate this at this time. This is due to varying densities of exotic caulerpa across infestation sites and a dynamic situation where caulerpa is both appearing in new locations, while at the same time showing evidence of material reduction at other places. Recent work by NIWA (ESNZ) suggested biomass reduction of as much as 90 percent in some known locations, while new detections are still being recorded outside of known locations.