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.

Check the Regional Pest Management Strategy 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.

Have your say on marine pests

As the movement of boats increases, so does the risk of marine pests spreading.

To protect our coastlines, the four northern-most regions (Northland, Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty Toi Moana) are considering new marine biosecurity rules – with support from Biosecurity New Zealand.

The proposal would be to develop hull-fouling rules that are applied consistently across the four regions.

For more information, and to have your say on the proposal, visit Bionet.nz or read the consultation documents.

Guidelines for hull cleaning

Where and when you should clean the hull of your boat

Where and when you clean your hull depends on:

• where you have visited with your vessel recently
• how much fouling is on your hull
• the types of marine species that are growing on your hull.

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.

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.

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.