Seisia-based Biosecurity Queensland officer Rebecca Williams installs Oriental fruit fly traps around the Northern Peninsula Area community. Photo: Supplied.
In a part of the state already stricken with concerns about the availability of fresh produce, an exotic fruit fly species is putting the homegrown food of Torres Strait families at risk.
The Oriental fruit fly was spotted twice in April on Thursday Island and Kirriri (Hammond Island), putting Biosecurity Queensland on alert for its detrimental impact on fruit and vegetable crops.
Seisia-based biosecurity officer Rebecca Williams said unlike the common fruit fly, the Oriental fruit fly damaged crops before they had a chance to be harvested.
“They attack any crops that are available to them, whether they’re ripe or not,” she explained.
“Even before the fruit is actually ripe and still growing, they’ll leave larvae on the fruit.
“Each batch lays around 500 eggs.”
Ms Williams said while the Oriental fruit fly was not harmful to humans, with many Torres Strait families growing crops in their own backyards, it was imperative they got the threat under control quickly.
“We do know that a lot of families do cooking with bananas and wild yams, and there’s a lot of pawpaw that we’ve noticed in almost every backyard,” she said.
“It affects a lot of families, especially when it comes to ceremonial events and cultural gatherings, because the cuisine up here is mostly bananas and pawpaw, and that’s kind of the main food security, as well as mangoes.”
Ms Williams said the biosecurity team was currently working on putting up Oriental fruit fly blocks around community areas in the Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area that were identified as hotspots to kill the males, as well as utilising spray packs to kill females.
She urged all community members to remain vigilant and report any possible sightings to Biosecurity Queensland.
“The best way to stop this is to not carry fruits and vegetables off the islands, and asking all visitors not to bring any fruits and vegetables when they go to the islands,” she said.
“If they think there’s Oriental fruit fly on their crops, just bag all the fruit in a garbage bag and leave it under the sun, so that it kills everything inside.
For more information, call Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23.
