Prevent pests from spreading

​Check and clean your gear

Thoroughly check and clean your vehicle, gear and any other items you transport:

• after visiting an area where there are known pests
• before visiting an offshore island which are often free of pests. See Visiting the Hauraki Gulf islands.

Thorough checking and cleaning minimises the spread of:

• weeds on land and in water
• pests like argentine ants
• soil-borne diseases like kauri dieback disease.

Do not release pests

Do not release any pest animals or unwanted pets into the wild. This includes mice, red-eared slider turtles, goldfish or rainbow lorikeets. Find out more about responsible pet ownership.

Check the Regional Pest Management Plan to see the pest plants and pest animals we manage.

Marine pests

Marine species spread by hull fouling and getting into ballast water.

• Clean your hull out of the water before you leave, including the propeller and anchor.
• Clean all recreational gear including fishing and diving gear.
• Check the Marine Pests website for marine biosecurity rules in other regions before leaving Auckland.

Guidelines for hull cleaning

Where and when you should clean the hull of your boat

Where and when you clean your hull depends on how much fouling is on your hull. To assess the degree of fouling, see the Level of Fouling Guideline on Knowledge Auckland. 

A slime layer on a vessel hull, regardless of origin, may be cleaned in-water.

If your vessel has more than a slime layer, you need to follow specific guidelines to ensure you comply with the Regional Pest Management Plan, Hauraki Gulf Controlled Area Notice and Auckland Unitary Plan.

​Read the guidelines

This is a summary of the rules. If you're not sure, contact us on 09 301 0101 to avoid fines or other penalties.

​To check whether your boat should be cleaned in or out of the water, follow these two steps.

Step 1: Check your hull

If you have any of the following marine pests on your hull, clean your vessel out of water to avoid releasing them into the marine environment:

• Asian paddle crab
• Australian droplet tunicate
• Clavelina oblonga
• Japanese mantis shrimp
• Lightbulb ascidian
• Mediterranean fanworm
• Pyura sea squirts
• Styela sea squirts
• Undaria

Step 2: Check your location

Vessels from local (Auckland) waters

You can clean your hull in-water, outside our exclusion zones as long as you:

• use a gentle, non-abrasive technique to avoid hull damage when cleaning
• use the consistent cleaning method recommended by the coating manufacturers
• collect as much biofouling waste as possible to avoid contamination.

If you see any unusual or suspected harmful organism, you must stop cleaning immediately and contact the Ministry of Primary Industries on 0800 80 99 66.

Vessels from other NZ regions or international waters

Clean your hull out of the water to avoid spreading invasive marine pests.

See our list of hardstand and haul-out facilities to do this safely.