CORAL EATERS: Sea pests infest Antique islands

By: Emme Rose Santiagudo

THE famous tourist destination Mararison Island and the neighboring Maniguin Island in Culasi, Antique are now under attack by a common sea pest called crown-of-thorns (COTs).

Culasi Municipal Administrator John Sumanting in an interview on Wednesday said that the coral-eating seastars has also penetrated some coastal barangays in Culasi.

“The affected islands are Mararison and Maniguin in Culasi, Antique. There are also some sightings in some coastal barangays particularly in Barangay Libata,” he said.

According to Sumanting, the Sangguniang Bayan level of Culasi is still deliberating the declaration of a state of calamity.

Last week, the local government unit (LGU) of Culasi, Antique sought the help of professional divers from all over the country to counter the COTs outbreak.

Christopher salao, member of Basecamp Divers in Iloilo who responded to the call, said that they were able to extract 500 COTs in the island of Mararison.

Lao expressed his alarm over the infestation, especially its effect on the coral reefs and the entire marine ecosystem in Culasi.

“Last year, when we we visited the area, beyond normal na gid man ang ila population but subong alarming gid especially in Maniguin and Mararison na almost bilog nga palibot sang island infested. Just imagine the corals na possible mawipe out because of the COTs then affected gid ang mga isda,” he said.

According to Lao, the alarming increase of the population of COTs can be attributed to water pollution, extreme heat, and overfishing.

“Primary reason sa pagincrease sang ila population is because of pollution, once gahigko ang dagat, may chemicals gapanaog and also subong due to extreme heat and indi man balance ang food chain, tungod sa overfishing,” he said.

COTs are large seastars that prey on coral reefs and can consume up to six square meters of living coral reef in a year.

While the LGU is seeking the help of divers to help respond to the outbreak, Lao said that only professional divers or those that were properly oriented can do the extraction since the COTs are extremely sensitive.

“It’s very sensitive, once ma agitate or sala lang pagkimpit it will release 100 to 1000 eggs which can mature in two to three years. So instead of helping, they can worsen the situation once sala ang procedure,” he lamented.