LBAM twist-ties on hold

The pheromone twist-tie phase of Sonoma’s light brown apple moth (LBAM) eradication program has been suspended pending Fish and Game review, Sonoma County Agricultural Commissioner Lisa Correia said Tuesday.
With two moths found in Sonoma, the California Department Food and Agriculture (CDFA) had ordered a program of quarantine and twist ties as a basic, organic-safe, non-toxic form of control. But area activists expressed concern that the primary tool of the ground control project, the twist ties, could be harmful should they find their way into creeks and streams.
Correia said the ties are the most positive alternative to aerial spraying – which, she emphasized, has not been discussed for Sonoma. She said that controlling the moth before it became an infestation was important to avoid the inconvenience to growers of extended quarantine, or worse, spraying. The twist ties, though registered as a pesticide, are not toxic; they simply disrupt the insects’ mating cycle, Correia said.
CDFA states that the “isomate-LBAM Plus twist tie, also called ‘pheromone ropes,’ controls the reproduction of the insect by confusing the male and disrupting mating behavior. They do not have a toxic effect on the target species or another species including animals, birds or other insect species and does not even kill LBAM.”
The idea of stopping the spread of the insects worked in Napa, said Deputy Chief Agricultural Commissioner Stephen Parnay. “In Napa last year, they had two finds, similar to Sonoma, and after several months [with the twist ties] they were able to be taken off quarantine.” He said placing the traps makes economical sense.
First District Supervisor Valerie Brown has asked for a July 8 meeting of the Board of Supervisors to discuss the issue.