WORKING TOGETHER TO CONTROL CROWN-OF-THORNS STARFISH IN THE WHITSUNDAYS

28 November 2001

Members of the tourism industry, reef managers and scientists will meet in a workshop to discuss best-practice local control methods for crown-of-thorns starfish and how to tackle the recent outbreak in the Whitsundays.

The workshop is being hosted jointly by the Cooperative Research Centre for the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (CRC Reef Research Centre Ltd), the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators (AMPTO) and the Order of Underwater Coral Heroes (OUCH).

"The workshop is designed so that the Cairns tourism operators can share their experiences about the methods that they have found are the most effective to control crown-of-thorns starfish or COTS in local areas," said Ms Bryony Barnett, Extension Manager from CRC Reef Research Centre Ltd. "We'll also hear from scientists about the patterns of COTS outbreaks in the past and what we can expect in the future."

"We've learnt a great deal about the effective control of crown-of-thorns starfish," said Mr Col McKenzie from Dive Queensland who is also the Chair of the Crown-of-thorns starfish Eradication Advisory Committee. "We've found that to win the battle we need to dedicate significant resources, in particular, specialised staff to controlling the starfish."

A panel of tourism operators from both Cairns and the Whitsundays will talk about their experiences in controlling crown-of-thorns starfish and ideas for coordinating a control effort in the Whitsundays.

The panel will include Troy Munday (Hayman Island Dive Centre), Beverley Fontes (OUCH), Colin McKenzie (Dive Queensland) and Ms Robin Aiello (marine biologist and consultant).

Dr Hugh Sweatman from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) will talk about the long-term monitoring program that has tracked crown-of-thorns starfish on the Great Barrier Reef since 1985. Mr Udo Engelhardt from Reefwatch Australia will also talk about the results from fine-scale monitoring of crown-of-thorns starfish that he has been undertaking since 1994 and the patterns that are emerging.

The workshop is being held in the Reef Discovery Centre, 388 Shute Harbour Rd (upstairs), Airlie Beach, on Thursday 29 November from 7.00pm to 9.30pm.

For more information call:
Ms Bryony Barnett, Extension Manager, CRC Reef on 07 4729 8401 or 0407 115402