Department of Agriculture

NR14-19
August 6, 2014

HONOLULU — The high winds from approaching storms Iselle and Julio are expected to cause problems with the approximately 1,600 panel traps that have been deployed on Oahu to survey for the coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB). The Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) and the CRB response team is asking the public to report downed panel traps by either calling the CRB hotline at 679-5244 or by e-mail at: [email protected]

“The team will be taking down as many traps as possible in the areas where higher winds are expected,” said Rob Curtiss, acting manager of HDOA’s Plant Pest Control Branch. “However, we will not be able to remove all the traps in time and we ask the public to keep an eye out for the traps and contact us if they are damaged or blown down in the storms.”

CRB have been found in the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam area, Iroquois Point and Campbell Industrial Park. The traps are deployed in higher densities near these buffer zones, but traps have been  deployed all over the island.

A multi-agency group has been working under the Incident Command System to manage this eradication program. Agencies involved include: HDOA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Land and Natural Resources, UH – College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, Oahu Invasive Species Committee and others.

For updated information on CRB in Hawaii, go to the HDOA website at: https://hdoa.hawaii.gov/pi/main/crb/

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CRB Panel Trap	CRB Panel in Tree