Episode 5: The AMPTO Crown Of Thorns Starfish (COTS) Program

Episode 5: The AMPTO Crown Of Thorns Starfish (COTS) Program

Author: James Donaldson, Wet Tropics Waterways January 16, 2019 Duration: 20:56

The Crown of Thorns Starfish (COTS) is a natural predator of coral on the Great Barrier Reef and is thought to have been present in low numbers for thousands of years. As a result of human induced influxes such as nutrient loading and fishing pressure COTS "blooms" have become a threat to coral health.

The Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators (AMPTO) have run a COTS management program on reefs of key tourism and/or conservation value for over two decades. The program has demonstrated that COTS control is a useful tool for localised COTS management.

A side benefit of the COTS program has been the creation of training and employment opportunities for youths in the Wet Tropics Region, with participants enjoying an 85% employment rate on completion of the program.


There's a vital, living connection between the lush, rainforested rivers of Far North Queensland and the vast blue expanse of the Great Barrier Reef. What happens in one profoundly affects the other. Hosted by James Donaldson from Wet Tropics Waterways, the Reef And Rivers Podcast explores this intricate relationship by giving a voice to the people who know it best. Each conversation moves beyond abstract science to ground-level stories, offering a direct line to farmers, Traditional Owners, researchers, and community volunteers who are actively engaged with the landscape. You'll hear about the specific critters-from tiny insects to majestic fish-that indicate a waterway's health, and learn about the practical, often ingenious projects aimed at protecting them. This isn't just a series of interviews; it's an ongoing audio documentary about the interdependence of an entire region's lifestyle, economy, and environment. By tuning into this podcast, you gain an understanding of how everyday actions on land ripple out to the reef, and more importantly, how collective effort is working to ensure both these iconic systems thrive for generations to come. The discussions are grounded, hopeful, and filled with the kind of specific details that only come from firsthand experience.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 72

Reef And Rivers Podcast
Podcast Episodes
S6.E10 Steve Lizzio, Growing Bananas Beside the Great Barrier Reef [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:08
Award winning banana growers Steve and Richelle Lizzio grow bananas in Mission Beach on one of the closest banana farms to the Great Barrier Reef. Their business is a great example of what's been achieved in the banana i…
S6.E9 Dr Matt Curnock, Human Dimensions of Waterway Health [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:50
Dr Matt Curnock is a senior research scientist at CSIRO in Townsville. His work in social and environmental science is focused on understanding how people perceive, value and interact with the Great Barrier Reef. Given t…
S6.E7 Travis Sydes, Biosecurity and the Threat of Amazon Frogbit [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:38
Travis Sydes managing natural resources in Far North Queensland as part of FNQROC, which represents 10 local governments across the region. In this podcast he talks about biosecurity issues in the Wet Tropics with a part…
S6.E6 Geoff McClure, Restoring Cattana Wetlands [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:16
Geoff McClure is one of hundreds of conservation volunteers who have helped transform Cattana Wetlands in the north of Cairns into an environmental park. In this podcast he talks about his love of conservation and the wo…
S6.E5 Barbara Wueringer, Discovering The Elusive Sawfish [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:52
Zoologist Dr Barbara Wueringer talks about her work with the fascinating sawfish her research of and how trawling through old newspaper clippings from the Gold Rush era helped to understand more about its historic distri…
S6.E4 Matt Moore, Fish Passage [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:03
Fisheries ecologist Matt Moore from Catchment Solutions talks about why fish habitat connectivity within waterways is so important and how decisions made to fix fish barriers such as weirs and dams.
S6.E3 Sam Bastounas, Using Seaweed to Strip Nutrients from Water [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:49
Sam Bastounas is the CEO of Pacific Bio, an Australian company that develops green technology to address water quality and food security issues. In this podcast, Sam discusses the challenge of purifying water and the dev…
S6.E2 Heidi Tait, Cleaning Up Marine Debris [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:44
Heidi Tait is the founder and Managing Director of Tangaroa Blue, a not for profit organisation focused on removing and preventing marine debris. In this podcast, Heidi talks about the problem of litter in our oceans and…