QRC Media - 27 August 2013 Get serious about starfish CAIRNS: It would cost the Australian Government an additional $8 million a year to give us a fighting chance of getting on top of the latest Crown of Thorns starfish infestation on the Great Barrier Reef. Queensland Resources Council Chief Executive Michael Roche will tell Cairns business leaders today that the modest investment could help turn the tide against the coral predator. ‘Experts from James Cook University’s Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies told me last week that if five dive boats could be dedicated to starfish eradication, there would a serious chance of getting on top of the current infestation,’ Mr Roche said. ‘At the moment there is one boat with committed funding of $2 million a year over the next two years. ‘The Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators’ (AMPTO) and their dedicated crew are doing a fantastic job but they could do with some help. ‘Around 100,000 Crown of Thorns starfish have been culled from northern sections of the reef since the AMPTO operation began last year but James Cook University is telling me there’s an estimated 1.5 million starfish from this latest infestation. ‘With four more boats and the huge productivity gains from deploying the new single-injection culling method, serious inroads could be made.’ Mr Roche said the $8 million dollar price tag for an additional four boats was value for money. ‘Eight million dollars is the federal government’s advertising budget this year to tell people that the child care rebate is not means tested,’ he said. ‘Another comparison is that it cost taxpayers $US80 million to have The Great Gatsby filmed in Australia. ‘I think the Great Barrier Reef and north Queensland are deserving of just 10 percent of that outlay.’ Last year the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) found that the Great Barrier Reef had lost half its coral cover over the past 27 years with Crowns of Thorns starfish responsible for 42 percent, cyclones and storms 48 percent and coral bleaching 10 percent. ‘In the short term, the most positive thing we can do for the reef is tackle the current starfish infestation,’ Mr Roche said. ‘We all know that more work needs to be done to prevent future infestations and the joint Commonwealth-Queensland Reef Rescue program is placing an important emphasis on tackling the flow of nutrients from water courses into the reef lagoon. ‘However, much more research needs to be undertaken to properly understand the starfish, and particularly why and how outbreaks occur. ‘This crucial baseline research should have a starting point of $2 million, doubling what is currently on the table.’ ‘We have the research capability ready, willing and able at organisations like AIMS and the Coral Reef Studies Centre to make good use of any additional funding.’ Mr Roche said the AMPTO starfish eradication program would be the starting point for a range of engagements in Cairns today with the aim of putting a focus on documented threats to the Great Barrier Reef and not imagined threats being peddled by environmental activists in their campaign to close down the state’s leading export industries. ‘If local media coverage is anything to go by, Cairns hasn’t lost its appetite for enhancing its reputation as a global tourism capital,’ he said. Media contact: Jim Devine (07) 32929560 qrc.org.au
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 03:11:46 +0000
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