Loxton and Waikerie residents located in red outbreak and yellow suspension fruit fly areas can now access free backyard traps that attract and kill fruit flies to protect their home-grown produce and help fight outbreaks in the region.
The District Council of Loxton Waikerie and the Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA) have partnered to cover the cost of 700 Cera Traps worth around $7000. These traps will provide extra coverage and add to the thousands of traps already deployed throughout the community by PIRSA and growers.
Residents in yellow suspension areas can collect traps from the Loxton Council Office or the Waikerie Library and Visitor Information Centre and residents in red outbreak areas can contact PIRSA to have the traps deployed in their backyard by PIRSA staff.
Residents in yellow suspension areas will receive guidelines on how to hang and use the traps, including scanning and registering the location. Once the outbreaks have ended, traps will need to be retrieved and returned to PIRSA.
Six of the current 16 fruit fly outbreaks are in the District Council of Loxton Waikerie area. The initial trigger for the Waikerie outbreak was on 4 April 2022 and for the Loxton outbreak on 21 March 2022.
To find out more, contact the District Council of Loxton Waikerie on (08) 8584 8000 or the Fruit Fly Hotline on 1300 666 010.