Feb. 24, 2015
HONOLULU — The Hawaii Board
of Agriculture (HBOA) voted today to place coffee grown on all areas of Oahu
under the same quarantine restrictions as was issued earlier for the Waialua
area on Oahu and Hawaii Island to prevent the spread of the coffee berry borer
(CBB).
On Dec. 17, 2014, HBOA placed coffee grown at Waialua Estate Coffee Farms
and coffee roasted at the Old Waialua Sugar Mill under the same quarantine
restrictions as coffee grown on Hawaii Island due to the detection of CBB
infestations at the sites. Since the initial detections in Waialua, CBB has
been found in Wahiawa and Poamoho in Central Oahu.
Today, the board voted unanimously to expand
the designated infested area and extend the interisland quarantine restrictions
to all of Oahu beginning tomorrow, Feb. 25, 2015.
“Expanding the coffee quarantine safeguards
to cover Oahu is an important step in helping to keep other coffee-growing
islands free of the coffee berry borer,” said Scott Enright, chairperson of the
HBOA. “Oahu is a hub for the state’s coffee trade and we need to make sure that
coffee beans that are imported to, as well as exported from Oahu are not
spreading this destructive pest.”
So far, CBB has not been detected on Maui,
Kauai, Molokai and Lanai.
