Can crown-of-thorns starfish be controlled?
Approximately 15 million starfish have been killed in control programs throughout the last 15 years in the Indo-Pacific region. By far the largest of these programs have been undertaken in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, where almost 13 million starfish have been removed from the reefs in that region. Despite these intensive efforts (costing approximately $A 6 million) the control program in Japan is regarded to have been unsuccessful in either eradicating the starfish or preventing further coral mortality. In fact, most control programs that have been conducted in the Indo-Pacific region are considered in this light. Only those undertaken in small areas (ie. less than one hectare) and at regular intervals are regarded to have achieved their objectives. Even this approach has not always been successful. For example, efforts at Green Island (during the 1960’s) were not able to preserve a small coral viewing area despite the removal of about 44,000 starfish over a two-year period. On the basi
