Scientists have reportedly detected the spread of a new parasite to North Island waters, and there are concerns for the health of several scallop fisheries.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is today expected to confirm the presence of Perkinsus olseni around Great Barrier Island and Great Mercury Island off the Coromandel Peninsula, as well as in Marlborough’s Pelorus Sound, the New Zealand Herald reports.

The newspaper says it follows the first detection of the shellfish-deadly parasite in the Marlborough Sounds in December.

Greg Hurt, an Auckland recreation diver, told the Herald he alerted MPI after photographing what he thought were sick-looking scallops with no roe off Great Barrier, and then comparing them with healthy ones he collected from Hauraki Gulf on the same day in January.

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