You can help keep New Zealand's waters healthy and beautiful for generations to come

Thanks for antifouling your vessel's hull. As well as improving your boat's performance, it also helps protect the marine environment from the spread of often damaging marine pests.

Dirty boat bottoms can carry hitchhiking pest organisms from bay to bay, port to port - pests that can harm the very things you value.

These two imported sea squirts are fouling mussel lines and beachfronts here in New Zealand

Styela clava

Eudistoma elongatum

As a boatie, you have a role to play in helping stop the spread of marine pest species. Marine biosecurity is everyone's responsibility. The following are simple precautions you can take:

• Regularly clean your hull – ideally don’t let the growth on your boat bottom get beyond a light slime layer.
• Dispose of any debris from your hull into bins - don't drop it back in the water where it can reproduce.
• Apply good thorough coatings of antifouling paint and keep your antifouling in good condition. Reapply if your antifouling is scraped or damaged, or if it is not working any longer.
• Use the most appropriate and effective antifouling for your boat and the kinds of activities you undertake. Your marine retailer or paint manufacturer will be able to advise you on choosing the right product and getting the best from your antifouling.
• If travelling to a new region (e.g. from Auckland to Northland or Coromandel, from Northland to Auckland, or from Wellington to Marlborough or Fiordland) check your hull is clean and free of fouling before you go. Clean it if required.