DAVAO CITY — Environmentalists from Sultan Kudarat provincial office in a 3-day activity extracted some 603 harmful crown-of-thorn starfish to avert the degradation of the Kalamansig Bay ecosystem.
“The 7.75 hectares of the bay have been cleared of large and small harmful starfish,” disclosed Elvira Lumayag, the Assistant Regional Director for Management and Service of the provincial environment office.
Studies have shown that crown-of-thorns starfish are responsible for the extensive loss of reef-building corals in the ocean.
There is a need to campaign and educate the residents about the danger that species bring to the marine resources and it needs to be weeded off.
Kalamansig Mayor Joaquin Concha, cited the importance of protecting the corals as they are one of the sources of human livelihood in the area where different types of fish live.
Though Lumayag said that the population of starfish in Kalamansig Bay has not reached the critical level, she emphasized however, the need to protect the bay from harmful sea creatures.
The crown-of-fish is dangerous when it grows because it destroys the corals that are their food.
A Starfish is not a fish and it can live up to 35 years.-Althea Beatrice Felizarta
