Walshe, T (2017). An assessment of alternative management interventions for treatment of Tropical Fire Ants on Ashmore Reef. Report to the National Environmental Science Program, Marine Biodiversity Hub. Australian Institute of Marine Science.
Overview
This report describes outcomes of deliberations of a group of experts and managers in a workshop held on 11 July 2017. In arriving at preferred alternatives among seven candidates (comprising four options for eradication, two for control and a monitor only option), each of ten workshop participants articulated trade-offs among the following set of objectives:
- Conserve seabirds (more is better)
- Conserve turtles (more is better)
- Protect character and naturalness (more is better)
- Avoid adverse side effects (more is better)
- Cost of implementation (less is better)
The outcome of those trade-offs was broad support for an eradication strategy involving ten bait applications over two years, with subsequent detection, mop-up and monitoring operations.
