Once-Bitten Big Easy Using Fish to Fight Pest: New Orleans Copies York's Method of Using Minnow-Like Fishes to Control Mosquitoes.
Posted on: Monday, 26 June 2006, 12:00 CDT
By Kathy Van Mullekom, Daily Press, Newport News, Va.
Jun. 26--YORK -- New Orleans and York County have a big itty-bitty problem in common.
Both attract mosquitoes.
Both attack the problem the same way - raising mosquito-eating fish.
York biologist Jim Rindfleisch is assisting the Gulf Coast city's mosquito fishery and expects a late-summer visit from its research entomologist Steve Sackett.
"We've provided information, equipment, fish tranquilizers, fish trap plans, technical advice and so on," says Rindfleisch.
York started breeding the fish called gambusia, also known as a minnow, 15 years ago, then dropped the project when the fishery's land was sold. The fishery started again four years ago. Mature, the fish measure 21/2 inches long. They like fresh water and tolerate a low-oxygen environment, which is a perfect breeding situation for mosquitoes. After Hurricane Isabel in 2003, fish were placed in standing water where uprooted trees had left shallow holes. They are also used in ditches, borrow pits, storm-water retention facilities and backyard water gardens - basically anywhere mosquitoes like to hang out.
"Since we have started using these fish for control, we've cut our mosquito control pesticide use by about one half," says Rindfleisch. "We no longer use chemical larvicides. This is a big plus for the environment and a considerable savings to the county in labor and pesticide costs."
Annually, the fish hatchery - the only one in Virginia - produces hundreds of thousands of fish. Major customers include the Navy, the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Army Corps of Engineers. York residents can get them for nothing - with delivery thrown in, says Rindfleisch.
"Backyard gardeners or VDOT - they're free," he says. "Law forbids commerce in native species. Our fishery permit does not allow us to sell fish, and we can distribute outside of York County only by permit."
In New Orleans, the fish hatchery is located at a tilapia farm that provided fish to the Louisiana jail system, says Rindfleisch. Hurricane Katrina wrecked the farm, which is now reopened to raise gambusia and tilapia. Using money from the Virginia Beach-based nonprofit organization Operation Blessing, Sackett purchased fish from a Mississippi farm to put in the 5,000 to 10,000 abandoned swimming pools in the city limits.
Try our dining, travel, entertainment and gardening newsletters. Subscribe
-----
Copyright (c) 2006, Daily Press, Newport News, Va.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Source: Daily Press
Related Articles
- Drugged Fish Hint at Danger in Water Supply
- Study Draft Says North Dakota Water Project Poses Little Risk to Canada
- Federal Minister Says New Fisheries Act May Be Dead in the Water
- Scientists Hope to Aid Growing Demand for Cobia: Marine Researchers Are Releasing Hatchery-Reared Fish to Stock the Salty Waters of the York River.
- China says south coast water pollution "serious"
- Canada Says Annual Seal Hunt to Start Saturday
- Researchers Say Five Deep-Water Fish Species Qualify for Endangered Status
- Statscan Says Air and Water Quality Trends Threaten Health
- Shanghai's Deep-Water Port Starts Operation
- Grim Outlook for Fish As Climate Change Makes Waters Warmer
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds