Program to control coral-eating starfish gets more funding
Richard Dinnen - Queensland Editor |
The Federal Government will expand efforts to control the Crown-of-thorns (COTS) Starfish which is a major cause of coral loss on the Great Barrier Reef,
Queensland Senator, Nita Green, said $162 million will be spent on the COTS Control Program over the next eight years.
Senator Green, who is the Government’s special envoy for the Great Barrier Reef, said the Program had protected 700,000 hectares of coral over the past decade and culled more than one million starfish.
“If we protect the Reef, we protect our future.”
“Protecting key coral reefs and tourism sites benefits the Great Barrier Reef and helps in securing the jobs of the many whose day-to-day livelihoods rely on a healthy and resilient Reef.
“This COTS Control Program is providing more than 145 Reef jobs directly in regional Queensland, including employment opportunities for Reef Traditional Owners.
COTS outbreaks have been occurring regularly on the Great Barrier Reef since 1962. The fourth such outbreak began in 2010.
The starfish occurs naturally across the Indo-Pacific region but can reach plague proportions in favourable conditions.
The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) monitors COTS. It said outbreaks migrate from north to south over about 15 years, and reefs can take up to 20 years to recover between outbreaks.
The COTS Control Program deploys boats and dive teams to cull the starfish in Great Barrier Reef waters.
