The Crown of Thorns Starfish Control Programme is designed to assist marine tourism operators to address potentially devastating Crown of Thorns Starfish outbreaks at key tourism sites. The programme directly assists Marine Park tourism operators to provide protection to key tourism sites and continue to provide high quality presentation of the Great Barrier Reef.

The current programme has run since 2002, funded through a range of Australian Government initiatives, including the Natural Heritage Trust, contributions from the Queensland Government and in-kind support from industry. The programme is continuing, with further funding committed over the next two years from the Australian and Queensland Governments.

What are crown of thorns starfish?

The Crown of Thorns Starfish is one of only a few animals that feed on living coral tissue. At low densities, the Crown of Thorns Starfish is a ?normal? part of the reef?s ecology. However, when the numbers of Crown of Thorns Starfish on a reef increase to the point where they consume coral faster than it can grow, the starfish can dramatically reduce coral cover, resulting in a major disturbance to the whole system. This situation is commonly known as a Crown of Thorns Starfish ?outbreak?. The Great Barrier Reef is in its third recorded outbreak.

What causes crown of thorns starfish outbreaks?

While there have been many theories on the causes of outbreaks of the Crown of Thorns Starfish, there are three theories that are supported by scientists:

• Removal of natural predators of the Crown of Thorns Starfish has allowed populations to expand.
• Human use of the coastal zone has increased the nutrients flowing to the sea and resulted in an increase in planktonic food for larvae of the Crown of Thorns Starfish. The improved survival of larvae has led to an increase in the number of adult starfish which results in outbreaks.
• Fluctuations in the Crown of Thorns Starfish population are a natural phenomenon.

Studies of Crown of Thorns Starfish show that during a severe outbreak, they can eat so much that they can kill most of the living coral in that part of the reef, reducing hard coral cover from the usual 25 ? 40 per cent of the reef surface to less than 1 per cent. Such a reef can take 10 years or more to recover its coral cover (CRC Reef).

What is being done to control impacts of crown of thorns starfish?

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) focuses management attention on regulating the possible human causes of the outbreaks, including water quality, supporting research into Crown of Thorns Starfish and providing assistance to the tourism industry to control outbreak affects at their dedicated sites.

The majority of large marine tourism operators already have extensive well-established crown of thorns starfish control efforts at their pontoon destinations. A survey of operators established present day expenditure by the marine tourism industry in the Great Barrier Reef on crown of thorns starfish control is approximately $1M per year (Report to GBRMPA). However, despite this dedication to crown of thorns starfish control, there have been episodes where the numbers of crown of thorns starfish have been so great, that the in-house programmes have been unable to maintain sustainable levels of crown of thorns starfish on site. The crown of thorns starfish control programme also includes a particular component to address the needs of small-to-medium sized operators.

The majority of large marine tourism operators have extensive well-established Crown of Thorns Starfish control efforts at their pontoon destinations. A survey of operators established present day expenditure by the marine tourism industry in the Great Barrier Reef on Crown of Thorns Starfish control is approximately $1M per year (Report to GBRMPA). However, despite this dedication to Crown of Thorns Starfish control, there have been episodes where the numbers of Crown of Thorns Starfish have been so great, that the in-house programmes have been unable to maintain sustainable levels of Crown of Thorns Starfish on site. The programme also includes a particular component to address the needs of small-to-medium sized operators.

Removal of Crown of Thorns Starfish from infested reef areas requires intensive dive or snorkel efforts by qualified marine divers, with each starfish individually eradicated with a non-polluting chemical solution injection. Since February 2002, the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators Crown of Thorns Starfish control team has conducted control efforts at 169 sites on 57 reefs, ranging from inner to outer edge reefs, from the Ribbon Reefs north of Port Douglas to the reefs offshore Cairns, Townsville and the Whitsundays (refer table).

The majority of Reef tourism operators in these regions use or access these sites. Over 77,000 Crown of Thorns Starfish have been killed.

How can you get involved?

All operators are encouraged to become involved in the Crown of Thorns Starfish Control Programme. For information on the programme, including training on control methods, or to apply for site selection, contact:

Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators
144 Sheridan St
PO Box 5720
Cairns 4870

E-mail: info@ampto.com.au
Ph: 07 4044 4990
Fax: 07 4044 4950
Mobile: 0417 6000 554