This web site is currently being upgraded for an improved user experience. Several web pages will continue to retain the former user interface during this transition period.

PR-06/30/2008: Quarantine Boundaries Expanded for Light Brown Apple Moth

Printer Friendly View

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 30, 2008 San Mateo County Health Department Contact: Gail Raabe, Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer (650) 363-4700  QUARANTINE BOUNDARIES EXPANDED IN SAN MATEO COUNTY FOR LIGHT BROWN APPLE MOTH REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has expanded the Light Brown Apple Moth State Interior Quarantine in San Mateo County. New quarantine boundary lines were finalized last week in response to additional moth finds. The four separate areas originally under quarantine have been combined into two regions, which now include all or portions of every city on the Bay side of the county and Daly City, Pacifica, Half Moon Bay and Pescadero on the coast. To date, 286 male moths have been trapped at 186 different locations throughout the county. A map showing the moth find locations and the new quarantine boundaries is available at www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/lbam. San Mateo County Agricultural Commissioner Gail Raabe is asking residents within the quarantine areas to help prevent the spread of this serious agricultural pest by not moving plants, flowers, fruits or vegetables from their property. Green waste, such as plant clippings and leaves, should be placed in recycling containers or composted on site. In addition to the quarantine expansion, the California Department of Food and Agriculture also announced important changes in their Light Brown Apple Moth Eradication Program. The state agency no longer plans to utilize aerial pheromone treatments as a tool to eradicate the light brown apple moth in the urban areas of northern San Mateo County. Instead, the CDFA will be using an alternative eradication tool know as Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) in which large numbers of sterilized, infertile insects are released so that wild populations cannot reproduce. There is no risk of crop or landscape damage from the release of sterile adult moths because only the caterpillars feed on plants. Sterile moths are expected to be available for release in early 2009 on a limited basis. In the interim, CDFA will continue efforts to suppress the light brown apple moth population and eradicate small, isolated infestations using ground application of pheromone-infused twist-ties and other tools. Other than the pheromone twist-ties currently deployed in Half Moon Bay and Pescadero, no additional ground treatments are scheduled for San Mateo County at this time. <\p /> Maps showing the exact quarantine boundaries are available on the CDFA Web site at http://pi.cdfa.ca.gov/pqm/manual/htm/419.htm (full regulation and map links) North Bay http://pi.cdfa.ca.gov/pqm/manual/MS_Word/3434LBAMNorthBay.JPG South Bay http://pi.cdfa.ca.gov/pqm/manual/MS_Word/3434LBAMSouthBay.JPG Pescadero http://pi.cdfa.ca.gov/pqm/manual/MS_word/3434LBAMPescadero.JPG For more information on the light brown apple moth or quarantine restrictions, contact the San Mateo County Department of Agriculture at (650) 363-4700 or visit these Web sites: San Mateo County  http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/lbam and CDFA http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/PDEP/lbam/lbam_main.html ###