NZ Muscle farmers want more cash to fight pest

New Zealand Marine Farming Association chief executive and working group spokesman Graeme Coates said that was a big drop from the $400,000 spent in the group's first year, $20,000 of which came from the council.

"It's a vast reduction from last year, because we have done so much of the work already.

"This year is about mopping up those areas and focussing on two or three large areas that still have potential to spread it," he said.

Didemnum vexillum is a colonial tunicate that had been identified as a serious risk to the mussel farming industry and the working group is tasked with managing, controlling and where possible eradicating it from Marlborough, Nelson and Tasman.

Source: The Marlborough Express