Cr Brooke Savige stated that there is work that must occur. This essential work includes finding a solution to the Salvinia problem.

The MBRC were already in the process of doing what they could about managing the weed, however, they had a few setbacks – a big one being that the biological control proved to be unsuccessful.

The salvinia weevil had been introduced in the past, but as they require the right conditions to reproduce and devour the salvinia at a faster rate than it grows. It appeared that Bribie Island did not have these conditions.

Alternative controls were discussed, with some put in place, although there had been even more obstacles preventing a smooth removal.

The conditions to consider for removing “by hand” included:
*risk vs reward
-the ratio effort it takes to pull out a certain amount is too much for too little;
*there are also many risks and costs with manual labour
-better to use equipment to do the job;
*problems with the machinery to do so
-there are only a couple of machines operated by MBRC that are not only appropriate to remove the weeds from the bodies of water, but also whether the machinery is able to gain access to the area to do so
-also, the machine that could potentially do the job was undergoing repairs and required a suitable operator.

As for using methods like chemical control, the hindrances the MBRC had experienced was mainly with time, and finding a sufficient spray, which needed to be a surfactant that was a registered herbicide. This is because the Salvinia is a plant with hairy leaves, so most herbicides would roll straight off, especially after rain. Salvinia is sprayed in multiple stages for a number of reasons, which include preventing toxins from entering the water, and also that one area and one layer of the plants needs to brown off before proceeding to the next.