A blueberry grower says the discovery of varroa mite on the Mid North Coast could impact on berry prices and local jobs.
An eradication zone has been set up 10 kilometres around the infested premises, a blueberry farm east of Nana Glen, and 32 beehives in that red zone have been so far destroyed.
Contact tracing has linked the 43rd detection in the state to hives transported from the Hunter region earlier in the year.
Corindi Beach blueberry grower Aman Lehl said producers faced a nervous wait.
"Everyone is just on edge … I guess it's a wait and see game to see how far it's spread and what it means to the growers," he said.
"At this stage we can't move any hives around our region, so what's on our farm stays there."
Concerns over berry production
Mr Lehl said varroa mite impacts could be far reaching.
The Mid North Coast's berry industry accounts for about 80 per cent of the state's production.
Hives are needed to pollinate blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, avocadoes and macadamias in the region until the end of September.
While berries can grow without pollination, fewer are likely to grow.
Those that do are generally much smaller, of lower quality and often unsaleable.
"It's not too bad right now as we aren't in a heavy pollination period but give it another six to eight weeks and the impact will be massive if we are still under this no movement zone," Mr Lehl said.
He said the incursion could also put full time jobs at risk.
NSW Apiarist Association president Steve Fuller also said the potential for significant flow-on impacts was high.
He said if bees couldn't be brought in to pollinate the berry crops, production quantity and quality would fall and the drop in supply would affect prices.
Mapping a way forward
Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders said a command post would be established in nearby Grafton to help manage the best way forward, including finding potential pathways for pollination.
"We will continue that surveillance work for the next few days and looking to have pretty strict containment lines in place," he said.
Berries Australia executive director Rachel Mackenzie said the organisation was looking to position an industry liaison officer within the Department of Primary Industries state emergency control centre in Orange to work through the issues.
"It's a challenging and ever-changing situation," she said.
She said her organisation wanted the need for pollination to be balanced with the requirement to manage this biosecurity situation.
"We are working with DPI to try and come up with practical solutions … there's a lot of risk and reward to be worked through."
