Predatory starfish cleared from Mindoro reef

Apo Reef in Occidental Mindoro province was spared from the summer threat posed by the predatory crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS), following a successful cleanup by an environmental group there. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said Thursday night that the cleanup was done in coordination with the Sablayan local government and the local Environment Department. “Massive swathes of the world’s coral reefs had been destroyed since global COTS populations started booming in the 1970s. Outbreaks can reach plague proportions as one adult COTS can consume six square meters of reef annually," the WWF said. The first COTS clean-up was done in January, where diver-volunteers from WWF, DENR and the LGU of Sablayan collected 704 of the spiny predators. A second effort followed in February, yielding a further 387. Fishermen allowed to fish within the protected areas using sustainable methods were requested to assist and collected 1,332. Even local octopus hunters, joined the fray and gathered 1,300. Club Paradise Resort from Busuanga, Northern Palawan, also helped collect 420 of the creatures. The last cleanup was held this month and included representatives from DENR-PAO, the LGU of Sablayan and volunteer fishermen where 1,059 COTS were gathered. “In cases where you have relatively young or recovering reefs, we choose to control COTS populations because most Philippine reefs are generally not in very good shape. They need the opportunity to recover. Plus, close to 50 percent of Filipinos living along our coastlines depend on seafood and many reef species as their sources of food," said WWF CEO Lory Tan. -GMANews.TV