Illegal moss could ‘ruin’ waterways
Three moss balls that ‘‘ have the potential to ruin the lakes and rivers of New Zealand’’ remain out in the community after a Christchurch artist illegally imported them into the country.
And the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) wants people to hand the marimo balls in before another destructive didymo-type biosecurity outbreak happens.
The moss balls, which were algae with a velvety appearance that were found mostly in lakes in the northern hemisphere, were sold through Trade Me and stalls in Christchurch over the 2015-16 summer, some of them in terrariums created by botanic artist Raquel Miranda.
People who have them could hand them in to the ministry and could expect a refund.
‘‘Three are out there, unaccounted for. We have recovered 11,’’ said MPI inspector Jonathan Cowie.
‘‘Bring them to the MPI,’’ he said – hoping the message would reach people who had bought them – during his evidence at the one-day, judge-alone trial in the Christchurch District Court on Monday.
‘‘Don’t dispose of them into waterways. Even a small filament can create a moss ball which can grow and lead to a didymo situation.’’
Judge Jane Farish said in her judgment: ‘‘Marimo moss balls have the potential to ruin the lakes and rivers of New Zealand if they were allowed to be introduced. A very small particle is all that is required, given that they are algae and can multiply very quickly.’’
The ministry has prosecuted the 38-year-old Brazilian woman, who creates and sells terrariums as part of her Arte Viva Living Art venture in Christchurch.
Miranda said she bought the moss balls through the Chinese online retail site AliExpress and sold them on Trade Me and through stalls at the Sumner Summer Market and Riccarton Market.
‘‘I didn’t know they were prohibited. Because other things I bought [online from overseas] came through, I didn’t really think about it,’’ she said.
She said she did not make any checks on whether the moss balls were legal to bring in.
Miranda has denied four charges: Obtaining a new organism and failing to tell the ministry of its presence, recklessly obtaining the unauthorised organisms, selling them, and making a misleading statement to MPI biosecurity inspectors by not immediately disclosing the number of moss balls she had.
The trial was told she believed some of the ones she had were artificial, but testing later showed they were real.
A Landcare Research algae expert at Lincoln, Dr Phillip Novis, said he had examined the Marimo moss balls. It was not known if they were dangerous to New Zealand, but they were excluded as a precaution.
They were seen as ‘‘a kind of treasure’’ in Japan, where they were protected, but in New Zealand there was a risk that it could ‘‘smother’’ the very clean waterways. There was a concern that native ‘‘meadows’’ on lake bottoms could be screened out by the moss balls. It was very difficult to restore lake bottoms once that happened.
Judge Farish said it was clear from the interview that Miranda made no checks ahead of importing the moss balls about whether they were prohibited. Miranda had assumed she could bring them in, and now faced a charge that she ‘‘recklessly’’ obtained them.
Defence counsel Nicola Hansen said that even if she had made the checks, she would not have found the information she needed from the ministry’s website.
The judge said: ‘‘It may be that as a result of this case and the deficiencies you have pointed out, they may change their website.’’
The judge dismissed the charge of making a misleading statement to an inspector, but found the other three charges proved. She remanded Miranda to June 20 for a hearing on whether there should a discharge without conviction and sentencing if required.
She said: ‘‘If there are problems with the MPI website with people trying to obtain this information, then something needs to be done.’’
In 2012, a 20-year-old university student pleaded guilty to seven charges of breaching the Biosecurity Act by importing moss balls and selling some online.
MPI said the moss balls were popular among aquarists as lowmaintenance pets and as an effective fish tank cleaning organisms.