Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 4, 1 April 1997 — ls it too late for eradication? Raising apple snails for escargot vs. getting rid of them [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ls it too late for eradication? Raising apple snails for escargot vs. getting rid of them

by Barbra An Pleadwell

While some taro farmers have purposely infested their lo'i with apple snails to raise them for profit, others want nothing to do with the mollusk. And for some, there hasn't been a ehoiee. Two years ago a taro farmer in Waipi'o Valley on the Big Island planted apple snails in his lo'i to raise them for profit. Because the aquatic pest ean float and move downstream very quickly, many farms in this area are now infested. Professors with the U.H. College of Tropical Agriculture found that the snails have even made their way down to a beach at the base of the valley. They also charted slow movement of the snails upstream. Onee they reach the fork of the stream, it is assumed the snails will infest the entire valley. Apple snail infestations are a problem in taro patches on

most islands (except Moloka'i to date). "Everything possible should be done to prevent their further spread around the islands, including people raising it for food," says Robert Cowie, a snail expert with Bishop Museum. For the large majority of taro farmers, apple snails are imweleome pests that mean disaster for taro lo'i. Farmers have attempted many eradi cation methods includ ing ducks (they eat the snails), copper sulfate (kills the snails), draining the lo'i (causes the snails to burrow in the mud away from the taro), and trapping. But some farmers are raising and marketing the snails as Hawaiian escargot, and say they are making good money. Last year apple snails increased labor for Kaua'i taro farmers by 50 percent, said Stacy Sproat, manager of the Hawaiian Farmers of Hanalei. Sproat says the farmers she represents are interested in raising taro, not snails. The nature of wetland taro production is already highly labor intensive. A taro farmer is estimated to work 2,500 hours

annually, according to a 1994 UH study. Compare this to a full time industrial worker estimated to put in about 2,000 hours of labor per year. Poi prices were up last year as a result of a taro shortage last year. The shortage is blamed on a number of things including an increase in apple snail infestations. In the past two years the pnee of a one-pound bag of poi has gone up 10 to 15 cents. Average prices in 1996 ranged from $3 to $4 for a pound of poi. Apple snails continued on page 6

Apple snails continued from page 3 The problem has gotten so bad legislation has been proposed to fund full scale apple snail eradication and education efforts. These measures died, however, partially because there are two schools of thought on the issue. Farmers who see the profit potential in raising the apple snail are against eradication efforts whieh could potentially wipe out an eeonomie opportunity. A group in Ke'anae, Maui opposing eradication efforts formed a eooperative, Nā Moku Aupuni O Ko'olau Hui. Nā Moku attempts to balance the production of taro and the eolleeūon of apple snails. The group's president,

Edward Wendt, says raising apple snails will help to improve Maui unemployment rates and provide families with supplemental ineome. Part of the money the group makes from selling apple snails is used for scholarships. Cowie notes that no formal eeonomie evaluation of the two-crop system has been done. "On the one hand, there's the money that ean be made from selling snails. And on the other hand, there's the money that's being

lost because the snails are damaging the taro," he said. According to information from the UH Sea Grant Extension Service, fresh apple snails are sold for between $3 and $6 a pound, making it a more lucrative crop than taro whieh sells for just imder 50 cents a pound. Nā Moku collects about 300 pounds of apple snails a week, and they are hopeful that number will increase to 1,000 pounds a week. Wendt stresses, however, that taro is the group's main agricultural product. "We're not here to stop taro growth, we're here to enhanee taro growth," Wendt says. "This way people will be encouraged to return to the lo'i where they are ensured further eeonomie growth." "We are not promoting it (raising apple snails), we are trying to control it," says Clyde Tamaru, aquaculture ' specialist with Sea Grant. "1 don't think we ean eradicate, but I think we ean control it." Tamaru points out the snails feed less on taro when they are being fed. Cowie agrees that eradication is not possible but says it is possible to prevent their further spread. He adds that promoting apple snails as a crop is not the answer. Francis Hun, owner of Bo'Ke Farms of Hawai'i in Wai'anae, also

opposes eradication efforts. Bo'Ke Farms is credited with initiating apple snail marketing efforts in 1993. Hun says the concept of raising apple snails as a second crop began with his son's fourth-grade science project five years ago. Hun now shells, vacuum packs and freezes the snails for a number of restaurants, distributors and markets throughout the state. Hun, who is not a taro farmer, grows apple snails in tanks on gravel beds. His "closed system" is described by Sea Grant as being the safest means of raising apple snails. "We don't approve of selling snails live," says Hun. "None of our snails are leaving our plant alive." Cowie says that while Hun may be a responsible person raising apple snails, there are too many risks involved. "However robust you make your enclosures (tanks), hurricanes and flooding ean spread the snails," he said. "Promote snails as a potential source of revenue, and then there is the real potential for irresponsible people to spread snails all around the taro growing areas of the state," Cowie said. Tamaru says Sea Grant discourages farmers from raising apple snails, especially if they are close to a body of

water. Wendt says that if taro farmers don't already have apple snails in their lo'i, they will shortly. "A smart person will use it (the apple snail) eeonomieally, to diversify aquaculture in Hawai'i." Hilo poi manufacturers Vonn Logan, owner of Pa'i'ai Poi Systems, and Gilbert Chang, owner of Pu'uio Poi Factory, don't like the idea of taro farmers raising apple snails. "The perspective of an aquaculturist is mueh different than that of a taro farmer," Logan says in reference to the Sea Grant study. "These are very severe infestations." "You're only raising taro to feed the snail," Chang said. "Taro and the traditional Hawaiian culture are warped by this short term goal," Cowie said. There is also the potential damage to wetland edbīogy, Cowie adds. "Hawaiians have always eaten snails out of the taro patches, pūpū lo'i," says Wendt, "Another species of snails has been introduced; it is the cousin of the abalone." "You ean control the (infestation) growth so you ean grow better quality taro without using chemicals," Wendt said. "Copper sulfate causes blindness and deafness, and hurts the environment." Harry Ako, a professor with the UH College of Tropical Agriculture, says he and his colleagues are looking at both sides of the issue. They continue to explore ways to increase the marketability of the apple snail, as well as ways to control it. Ako plans to study the effectiveness of koi (ornamental carp) in taro patches. Koi, like ducks, are snail predators, but don't require as mueh management. The department of Agriculture has a new mulluscide called Baylucide that may be studied if there is funding.

poteHtiAt fonoee o( oeveHue, ah4 tAe h tA eoe <f tAe oet \t potentiAt (o* inefpoH fiCte feopte to ipoeaA *ha<t* *tt aoouhA tAe txi9 $>0M/iH$ neM o( tAe *Ute.n — Robert Cowie, snail expert

A clutch of apple snail eggs eontains between 25 and 1,000 eggs, with an average of 200.