By TJ Aumua in Suva

The crown-of-thorns phenomenon may sound like something from a Hollywood movie storyline. Instead it’s the name given to the rapid mass reproduction of the crown of thorns (COT) starfish – the biggest threat to the Pacific’s coral reefs.

Named for its long poisonous spines on its exterior, the starfish are the primary cause for the extinction of live coral in the South Pacific.

Dr Pascal Dumas, a researcher at the Institute for Regional Development (IRD), has been working on the phenomenon in the Pacific for almost a decade.

Although this has always been a natural marine cycle for the starfish, climate change such as warming sea temperatures and nutrient run off from floods and drains into the sea are possible factors for the starfish’s population explosion.

Standing on or being scratched by a COT spine can cause serious illness and infection.

This makes fishing for those who live on the Pacific coastlines a dangerous chore.

Dumas, together with IRD colleague and information technology engineer, Sylvie Fiat, developed OREANET, an online COT monitoring system.

This was previously launched in Vanuatu and New Caledonia to keep track of where COT clusters were present or growing around the coast.The project is planned to begin in Fiji this year.

OREANET relies on “citizen science” by encouraging locals to report on COT observations and submitting this via an online form.

Those involved in ORENET will be working with community leaders and NGO’s to help rural communities gain access to the project.

• The University of South Pacific’s Pacific Centre for Environment & Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD) is hosting a weekly seminar for students during their semester. This week, they invited Dr Pascal Dumas and Sylvie Fiat from Vanuatu to inform the students about their project.

Ami Dhabuwala and Pacific Media Watch contributing editor TJ Aumua are in Fiji on a two-week “Bearing Witness” climate change journalism project with the University of the South Pacific.

• OREANET Fiji
• OREANET New Caledonia
• OREANET Vanuatu
• Fiji set to start up clean-up of crown of thorns starfish
• ‘Bearing Witness’ project

What used to be a 30-minute walk, even up to an hour, to the best fishing spot for people of Komave in Nadroga turned out to be a walk just outside their doorsteps this week.

No, they didn’t need a fishing line, a net or a spear, but just a sack to fill up the hundreds of fish that washed up on their shoreline.

Komave district representative Tevita Batikodikodi says this has been the scene for them over the past two weeks.

“But this week it has been the worst because we woke up on Monday with thousands of fish on the beach — there were those that were still alive and those that were dead.

“For those that were alive, we have cooked and consumed them.”

Litia Bolakoto, 63, says since being married into the village, near south Korolevu, this was the first time for her to witness something like this in 44 years.

“We were shocked and surprised,” she says.

A few reasons
Adjunct scientist and marine expert Dr Sangeeta Mangubhai says there were a few reasons that could cause fish to wash ashore.

“If you have fish killed it could either be because of pollution or because there isn’t enough oxygen in the water. It can be anything like air pollution or other animals in there that are sucking up the air in there.”

With Fiji’s current temperature experienced at a maximum 33 deg C, Dr Mangubhai says not all fish could be killed because of this

“When the coral bleaches and dies, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the fish dies. It depends on how much coral die, and if a lot of coral die, the fish that eat the coral die because of less food.

“Also the impact on fish is different, so you cannot say because of coral bleaching the fish die. It’s not like that at all.”

Reef Explorer director Dr Victor Bonito says Fiji was in need of cloudy weather to cool off the already overheated marine eco-system.

He says the sea water temperature had risen to as high as 36 deg.

Hot water
“I would say the dead fish would be a result of the hot water being experienced at many of the sites in Votua, Votualailai, Namada,” Dr Bonito said.

“Temperatures have really spiked from the end of January and this weekend it has really gone high. It has never gone cool at night because we have some hot water that has moved around Fiji and it has been above 30 degrees at night since the weekend.”

The Fisheries Department is currently conducting tests on fish that washed ashore along the Coral Coast to determine the cause of death.

Meanwhile, the Fiji Meteorological Service has forecast Fiji’s temperatures to rise as high as 33 deg in the next few days.

Vanuatu heat wave suspected cause for dead fish

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