Scientists plan to deploy robotics, genetics, environmental DNA, pheromones and natural predators in the battle against the devastating crown-of-thorns starfish.
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The Great Barrier Reef Foundation hopes to unleash the next-generation tools to predict, detect and respond to deadly outbreaks of coral-eating starfish across the reef.
The proposals to protect the corals are among a $9.8 million Crown-of-Thorns Starfish Control Innovation Program developed with the Australian Institute of Marine Science, CSIRO, James Cook University and The University of Queensland.
Starfish outbreaks continue to be a significant threat to the health of the Great Barrier Reef and the thousands of species of marine life, Anna Marsden from the Great Barrier Reef Foundation said.
"It's critical that we do everything we can to help build the Reef's resilience and ensure our precious corals have every chance to survive," Ms Marsden said.
"Controlling COTS outbreaks is one of the most effective actions we can take to directly protect corals and build the Reef's resilience in the face of climate change."
The innovation program brings together more than 90 of the best and brightest minds from Australia's leading science institutions in the fight against the reef predator.
Program director Mary Bonin said the team would use a combination of ocean activities, lab experiments, complex modelling and multiple science disciplines.
"We have experts in genetics, data science, engineering, ecology, decision science and social science, working in partnership with reef managers and on-water crews from the COTS Control Program to develop the innovations," Dr Bonin said.
"We're decoding the COTS genome to find the natural pheromones that COTS use to communicate."
Scientists hope the pheromones could lure the starfish en masse into traps for removal, turning the coral predator into prey.
New robotics and artificial intelligence systems could also be deployed to hunt down starfish.
"The program is also fine-tuning methods for environmental DNA detection, which will provide the earliest possible warning sign of COTS infestation on a reef by picking up traces of DNA they leave in the water."
Australian Associated Press
