Gambusia get some love
Fish take bite out of foreclosures’ mosquito problem
With abandoned properties increasing at an alarming rate, many metro areas have enlisted the help of a tiny fish to battle mosquitoes and control disease.
By Michael Corkery, The Wall Street Journal
While lawmakers in Washington struggle to solve the nation's foreclosure crisis, officials in Antioch, Calif., are using a small fish to clean up some of the mess.
The Gambusia affinis is commonly known as the "mosquito fish" because of its healthy appetite for the larvae of the irritating and disease-spreading insects. Lately, the fish is being pressed into service in California, Arizona, Florida and other areas struggling with a soaring number of foreclosures.
The problem: Swimming pools of abandoned homes have turned into mosquito breeding grounds.
"They are real heroes," says Josefa Cabada, a technician at the Contra Costa Mosquito & Vector Control District, a government agency. "I've never seen a mosquito in a pool with mosquito fish."
The mosquito fish is well-suited for a prolonged housing slump. Hardy creatures with big appetites, they can survive in oxygen-depleted swimming pools for many months, eating up to 500 larvae a day and giving birth to 60 fry a month. That can save environmental crews from having to repeatedly spray pesticides in the pools while the houses grind through the foreclosure process. (more article here)
With abandoned properties increasing at an alarming rate, many metro areas have enlisted the help of a tiny fish to battle mosquitoes and control disease.
By Michael Corkery, The Wall Street Journal
While lawmakers in Washington struggle to solve the nation's foreclosure crisis, officials in Antioch, Calif., are using a small fish to clean up some of the mess.
The Gambusia affinis is commonly known as the "mosquito fish" because of its healthy appetite for the larvae of the irritating and disease-spreading insects. Lately, the fish is being pressed into service in California, Arizona, Florida and other areas struggling with a soaring number of foreclosures.
The problem: Swimming pools of abandoned homes have turned into mosquito breeding grounds.
"They are real heroes," says Josefa Cabada, a technician at the Contra Costa Mosquito & Vector Control District, a government agency. "I've never seen a mosquito in a pool with mosquito fish."
The mosquito fish is well-suited for a prolonged housing slump. Hardy creatures with big appetites, they can survive in oxygen-depleted swimming pools for many months, eating up to 500 larvae a day and giving birth to 60 fry a month. That can save environmental crews from having to repeatedly spray pesticides in the pools while the houses grind through the foreclosure process. (more article here)