Final MBT Annual General Meeting
We held the final AGM for the Marine Biosecurity Toolbox project, after five years of intensive research and collaborations.
Kyle Hilliam hands-in his PhD!
We are thrilled to announce that one of our brilliant PhD students, Kyle, has just submitted his thesis at Deakin University, titled "Predicting Marine Invasions for Optimised Management."
Quantifying the movement dynamics of New Zealand’s recreational vessels to inform proactive management of non-indigenous species
Kyle Hilliam’s newest publication focuses on quantifying the movement dynamics of New Zealand’s recreational vessels to inform proactive management to prevent the spread of non-indigenous species (NIS). The identification of spreading hubs and locations at particular risk of NIS introductions, enables managers to design risk-based and effective surveillance and monitoring programmes.
Priorities for improving predictions of vessel-mediated marine invasions
A new study on priorities for improving predictions of vessel-mediated marine invasions has been published, identifying all of the biological, vessel and environmental factors influencing the progress of a species through the invasion process.
Data from New Zealand’s largest recreational vessel survey are in!
Our programme's recreational vessel survey received over 1,800 individual responses from throughout the country. To our knowledge, they represent the largest recreational vessel movement dataset ever collected.
Training and operational resources for application of the LOF scale
On 20 June, around twenty biosecurity and technical diving specialists from around New Zealand attended a 1-day workshop in Manukau to discuss boat biofouling and the Level of Fouling (LOF) rank scale. The workshop addressed the range of approaches for vessel hull surveys in NZ and the design of operational and training resources for use of the LOF scale.
To clean or not to clean: views of boat owners in keeping boat hulls free of biofouling organisms
Researchers from the MANAGE AND RESPOND and ECONOMICS AND DECISION SUPPORT teams have joined forces to work towards an understanding of the factors that encourage or discourage hull cleaning behavior of the recreational boat owners in New Zealand.
Mapping nationwide movements of New Zealand’s recreational vessels
The MANAGE & RESPOND TEAM developed a web-based survey that uses interactive maps to capture the movement of recreational boats in New Zealand. The collected data will be used to create a network model of recreational vessel movements to understand places of particular importance for biosecurity pathway management and response.
A framework for quantifying of marine biosecurity risk factors associated with common vessel types
This publication synthesizes empirical data on a wide range of vessel types and characteristics to develop a framework that allows systematic quantification of the relative risk of NIS transfer by common commercial vessel types. A potential application of the framework for assigning a relative risk level for New Zealand ports, based on the arrival frequencies of different vessel types, is presented.
Understanding the dynamics of NZ’s recreational vessel transport network: a case study around the iconic Great Barrier Island
In his honours project, Cal Faubel uses network and epidemiological modelling approaches to shed some light on these questions by characterizing New Zealand’s domestic marine transport network, beginning with a focus on recreational vessels.