The Crown of Thorns threatens

Samoa’s reefs

The Crown of Thorns star fish which has threatened cor al reefs all over the South Pacific is reported to be caus ing severe damage to the reefs of American Samoa and may constitute a threat to the en tire reef system.

The infestation of these dark red starfish in American Samoa has been relatively sudden, for at the beginning of 1976 very few starfish were reported by divers around the main island of Tutuila. Since that time, however, severe damage caused by the starfish has been reported on the Taema Banks, an off-shore reef extending across Pago Pago Harbour entrance. Up to 70% of the coral in the deeper water is dead, and the starfish are moving on to the live cor al that remains on the reef.

Some fishing experts have gone so far as to predict that the starfish would continue its damage until all the living :oral around American Samoa had been eaten, and :ompared the present situ ation with the extensive damage which the starfish had caused in some of the Micronesian islands in the

early 19605.

But in Western Samoa, it has been some time since the starfish has caused any real alarm. In the early 19705, the Fisheries Division in Apia campaigned to control the starfish and offered small cash rewards to people who cap tured them.

Villagers caught more than 13 000, but later inspections of Western Samoa’s south coast reefs reveal that the starfish is still abundant. But on a more optimistic note, new corals have grown over the areas which were pre viously grazed by the starfish.

There have been no further campaigns to control the star fish in Western Samoa, but fishermen on the reefs around American Samoa are being urged to spear the starfish and carry them up on the land where they will dry out and die. The fishermen are warn ed not to cut the starfish into pieces, because each piece will grow back into a whole starfish.

They are known to grow as large as two feet in diameter, with 15 arms radiating from the central portion of the

body which is described as about the size of a dinner plate.

Fishermen are warned to be careful when handling the starfish, as the spines are poisonous and can cause a painful wound. People stung by the starfish, however, are advised to place the underside of the animal against the wound, as this is supposed to neutralise the poison. But the Samoans put it this way, E fofo e le alamea le alamea. (The starfish is the treatment of its own wound). Judie Teall in Apia.

The latest news was that the government is offering a bounty of 15c for dead star fish. The Office of Marine Re sources warned potential col lectors that as the thorns on the starfish are poisonous, care was needed in handling them. The starfish can be kill ed by slashing with a bush knife or similar instrument.

To ensure a “kill” it is necess ary to pick the starfish up with a stick or spear and carry it to land where it will dry out and die. If cut to pieces in the water each piece will grow back into a whole starfish.