Mosquito Fish being introduced into Haiti

mountainannie

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? Playing God with Haiti’s freshwater ecosystems Strange Attractions

There is a rising FB protest against the Pat Robertson group who are introducing this species into Haiti..

Of course, Robertson .. who famously states that "Haiti was dedicated to Satan 200 years ago" has perhaps more enemies than friends in Haiti..

but this might be a dangerous precedent...

or not?

If they are introduced there.. they may well end up here...

shared ecosystem and all that..
 

jrhartley

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wasnt there a news story about breeding sterile mosquitos that would help eliminate them in Africa, it would seem a better option, I would presume that fish already eat mosquito lavae...but there are no fish in rubber tyres and buckets
 

Hillbilly

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Scary stuff...like the mongoose or the furry thing in Florida???Both introduced, bothbecame pests. Pat andhis people should be shot...

HB
 

Chip

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With all due respect I've read the article and it seems weak in it's argument against the introduction of this fish but more a typical political correct commentary. I think a political slant is quite apparent from the blogger's homepage who wrote this article. Also if one looks at the history of man we have been constantly introducing non native species all over the world and sometimes animals have gone extinct but the overall benefits have been much more substantial. We are just currently riding a "everything man does is bad" wave that is more alarmist than anything. After all, where would the DR be without it's plantain, rice, beans and chicken? Or Ireland and Russia without it's potatoes? Etc, etc etc.

Here is a rebuttal from the organization from www.ob.org.:

RELIEF ORGANIZATION BLASTS FALSE REPORT ON ITS HAITI MOSQUITO CONTROL PROGRAM

Operation Blessing Did Not Import Gambusia Holbrooki Fish Into Haiti; Haitian Government Allowed Group to use Gambusia Affinis

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (April 26, 2011) – A widely circulating blog containing false and erroneous information prompted Bill Horan, president of the charitable relief organization Operation Blessing International (OBI), to issue the following statement regarding its relief effort and its mosquito control program in Haiti:

“There is false and misleading information currently circulating on the Internet, and it is important to correct and set the record straight. Operation Blessing International did NOT bring gambusia holbrooki fish into Haiti. As we have done with every mosquito control project we undertake, we painstakingly researched the presence of different species of gambusia in Haiti’s waters. We do this to ensure that only fish already present are introduced. OBI did this research in Haiti and never introduced gambusia holbrooki as is being incorrectly reported,” said Horan.

Moreover, Horan noted that OBI’s partner on the project is Dr. Val Abe, an esteemed Haitian aquaculture expert, founder of the Haitian charity Caribbean Harvest, and one of Time Magazine‟s 100 Most Influential People 2010.

“Dr. Abe specifically requested gambusia affinis, since his research showed that the affinis had previously been introduced into Haiti’s waters and also because they are the most effective at mosquito control,” Horan said.

Furthermore, both Haiti‟s Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Environment spent over a year thoroughly vetting the charitable relief organization‟s plan to bring gambusia affinis into Haiti. Both Ministries approved the plan in writing, giving OBI full permission to import the gambusia affinis.

“OBI’s intention is to only release the fish into mosquito-infested water that will completely dry out in the warm weather, such as drainage canals, large puddles and standing water around tent camps. OBI has no plan to distribute the fish into open water systems such as rivers and lakes,” Horan said.

Operation Blessing International’s mosquito fish program in Haiti is modeled after its successful “Bug Busters” program in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Beginning in 2006, OBI staff and volunteers worked with local and federal authorities to raise and stock gambusia in thousands of stagnant swimming pools around the city. As a result of this project, OBI was credited by the City of New Orleans as having averted an outbreak of West Nile Virus. In fact, a portion of OBI’s program in New Orleans is ongoing, five years after Katrina, now being managed by The City of New Orleans Mosquito Control.

Steve Sackett, retired City of New Orleans entomologist and marine biologist for the State of Louisiana said, “New Orleans came to a standstill after Hurricane Katrina. Operation Blessing came in, offered to help with mosquito control using an environmentally friendly approach, and knocked the ball out of the park with its “Bug Busters” program.”

Horan concludes; “The fact is gambusia affinis are the most effective in controlling mosquitoes and are used in many countries around the world to help relieve human pain and suffering from malaria and other diseases on a large scale, which speaks directly to the mission of Operation Blessing International.”
 

jrjrth

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Mar 24, 2011
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? Playing God with Haiti’s freshwater ecosystems Strange Attractions

There is a rising FB protest against the Pat Robertson group who are introducing this species into Haiti..

Of course, Robertson .. who famously states that "Haiti was dedicated to Satan 200 years ago" has perhaps more enemies than friends in Haiti..

but this might be a dangerous precedent...

or not?

If they are introduced there.. they may well end up here...

shared ecosystem and all that..

This happened in Maryland in 2002 when the Northern Snakehead fish was introduced...they are now being found in the Missippi River...so the answer to your question is YES they can and will get into the Dominican echo system as long as the waterways flow...its only a matter of time....people need to think of all that can and will be affected.
 

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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With all due respect I've read the article and it seems weak in it's argument against the introduction of this fish but more a typical political correct commentary. I think a political slant is quite apparent from the blogger's homepage who wrote this article. Also if one looks at the history of man we have been constantly introducing non native species all over the world and sometimes animals have gone extinct but the overall benefits have been much more substantial. We are just currently riding a "everything man does is bad" wave that is more alarmist than anything. After all, where would the DR be without it's plantain, rice, beans and chicken? Or Ireland and Russia without it's potatoes? Etc, etc etc.

Here is a rebuttal from the organization from www.ob.org.:

RELIEF ORGANIZATION BLASTS FALSE REPORT ON ITS HAITI MOSQUITO CONTROL PROGRAM

Operation Blessing Did Not Import Gambusia Holbrooki Fish Into Haiti; Haitian Government Allowed Group to use Gambusia Affinis

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (April 26, 2011) – A widely circulating blog containing false and erroneous information prompted Bill Horan, president of the charitable relief organization Operation Blessing International (OBI), to issue the following statement regarding its relief effort and its mosquito control program in Haiti:

“There is false and misleading information currently circulating on the Internet, and it is important to correct and set the record straight. Operation Blessing International did NOT bring gambusia holbrooki fish into Haiti. As we have done with every mosquito control project we undertake, we painstakingly researched the presence of different species of gambusia in Haiti’s waters. We do this to ensure that only fish already present are introduced. OBI did this research in Haiti and never introduced gambusia holbrooki as is being incorrectly reported,” said Horan.

Moreover, Horan noted that OBI’s partner on the project is Dr. Val Abe, an esteemed Haitian aquaculture expert, founder of the Haitian charity Caribbean Harvest, and one of Time Magazine‟s 100 Most Influential People 2010.

“Dr. Abe specifically requested gambusia affinis, since his research showed that the affinis had previously been introduced into Haiti’s waters and also because they are the most effective at mosquito control,” Horan said.

Furthermore, both Haiti‟s Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Environment spent over a year thoroughly vetting the charitable relief organization‟s plan to bring gambusia affinis into Haiti. Both Ministries approved the plan in writing, giving OBI full permission to import the gambusia affinis.

“OBI’s intention is to only release the fish into mosquito-infested water that will completely dry out in the warm weather, such as drainage canals, large puddles and standing water around tent camps. OBI has no plan to distribute the fish into open water systems such as rivers and lakes,” Horan said.

Operation Blessing International’s mosquito fish program in Haiti is modeled after its successful “Bug Busters” program in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Beginning in 2006, OBI staff and volunteers worked with local and federal authorities to raise and stock gambusia in thousands of stagnant swimming pools around the city. As a result of this project, OBI was credited by the City of New Orleans as having averted an outbreak of West Nile Virus. In fact, a portion of OBI’s program in New Orleans is ongoing, five years after Katrina, now being managed by The City of New Orleans Mosquito Control.

Steve Sackett, retired City of New Orleans entomologist and marine biologist for the State of Louisiana said, “New Orleans came to a standstill after Hurricane Katrina. Operation Blessing came in, offered to help with mosquito control using an environmentally friendly approach, and knocked the ball out of the park with its “Bug Busters” program.”

Horan concludes; “The fact is gambusia affinis are the most effective in controlling mosquitoes and are used in many countries around the world to help relieve human pain and suffering from malaria and other diseases on a large scale, which speaks directly to the mission of Operation Blessing International.”

Thanks for doing the extra research,. Chip

I will forward the info back to the Haitian sites which are posting...

however, while I am impressed with the credentials of the local Haitian expert.. I am not so convinced by the "thorough" review by the Haitian government ministries which are notoriously ineffective.

And, while it may well have worked in NOLA .. does that mean that it will work here? Many people in Haiti live from fishing in the rivers.. how will this fish impact the local fish? Can you eat them?

I somehow would feel more assured if there were some DR specialists weighing in on this issue...
 

getthesenets

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Haiti seems to be guinea pigs .


Scientists, economists, public policy people have been talking about theories for years..... now they have a real life scenario where they can experiment and test their theories..




and Hillbilly, you're right...the Nutria was introduced to the southern US.....bred like crazy and are now much more of a pest than the pest that they were introduced to eradicate.
 

mountainannie

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Another response

Dear Mr. Horan,

I am writing to you in response to the press release put out by Operation Blessing today which quotes you in an denunciation of ?false and misleading information? being circulated about the organization?s operations in Haiti. While I will not be so bold as to assume that the ?widely circulating blog? that is ambiguously referenced in the press release is my own, I will assume that at least some of the ?false and misleading information? that you denounce comes from my recent article, ?Playing God with Haiti?s freshwater ecosystems?, which is rather cunningly not cited by the press release. I hesitate, though, in that it is entirely unclear what exactly the ?false and misleading information? is that is being spread and where exactly it is coming from. You mention, for example, that the species of mosquitofish that your organization is introducing into Haiti is Gambusia affinis, and not Gambusia holbrooki, but the difference between the two closely related species of mosquitofish is trivial from the standpoint of invasion biology, and throughout my article, I have followed the common practice of referencing the literature on both species interchangeably. You also assert that G. affinis is already in Haiti. If perhaps you do have unpublished information suggesting that this is the case, the onus would be on you to share this information.

But if it is the case that populations of G. affinis are already established in Haiti, why did you fly thousands of fish into the country from the United States? Why not use fish from the populations that are already in Haiti, which are probably genetically separate from those in the U.S., and which are already adapted to local environmental conditions? And whether G. affinis is actually established on the island or not, why not use fish from native species, which would work just as well? Ironically, the press release ?blasts? an ambiguous ?false report? that your organization is introducing a species of invasive mosquitofish into Haiti, but also confirms that your organization is actually introducing a species of invasive mosquitofish into Haiti.

Interestingly, the press release also includes the first public evidence of what appears to be a consciousness within your organization of the ecological impact of the project, clarifying that Operation Blessing does not plan to introduce fish into ?open water systems such as rivers and lakes?, although this certainly does not guarantee that the fish won?t be able to spread to such systems. This is nevertheless encouraging, but the press release then concludes with yet another unfortunate statement from you asserting that this plan to introduce a species of invasive fish to the island is somehow going to reduce human suffering ?on a large scale?. This, as I have previously pointed out, is a fantasy, and ignores the fact that successful mosquito control comes from actual work engaging with communities and managing stagnant waters. And while I applaud the work that your organization has done in New Orleans in identifying a critical problem (i.e. the breeding of mosquitoes in the large number of abandoned swimming pools there) and using an effective and non-disruptive method (i.e. a native species of fish) to make a big impact, this is fundamentally the opposite of what your organization seems to be doing in Haiti.

As of the posting of this letter, my original article has been edited to reflect the fact that it was G. affinis aboard the aircraft in your promotional video, and not G. holbrooki. My analysis which is contained in that article, however, remains unaltered. I will, however, offer this: if you can show proof that populations of G. affinis were actually established in the river basins where you operate prior to your arrival, proof that there is no species of small live-bearing freshwater fish endemic to Hispaniola that is equally suitable for mosquito control, OR proof that your introduction of G. affinis to Haiti has made any impact at all on the spread of malaria in Haiti, I will gladly take down my article and this open letter to you and replace them with a public apology and a call to the organizers of the online petition to immediately cease their campaign. But until then, I can only hope that you have actually read my article and the literature that I cite, that you are aware of the consequences of what you are proposing to do and are considering alternatives, and that in the future your organization will use its vast resources to work with impoverished communities instead of recklessly altering the landscapes and ecosystems that they depend on without their consent.

Yours,
un.chemyst
 

Chip

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What I would like to know it the current status of fishes found in Haiti's rivers. I know there are few fish in Dominican ones and I expect it to be much worse in Haiti. By far more Haitians use the local rivers for bathing and washing than Dominicans and this in addition to the denuded watersheds can only attribute to an even more hostile environment in their rivers.

My opinion is from reading this opinion is this guy is just an armchair blogger looking for a fight to pick and honestly who would be a better and more politcally correct approved target that Pat Robertson for goodness sakes? I mean that is right out of the manual of who to pick on to get maximum kudos from all the mainstream press and political correct groupies - heck you just can't go wrong with that one.
 

Chip

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While I certainly agree that Robertson is easy target and wildly unpoplar with many segments in Haiti.. I think that this is real issue.

MA, with all due respect I think the anti foreign rhetoric from the majority of these Haitian news sources/blogs/forums is quite overbearing and obviously skewed to say the least. This is still unfortunately a byproduct of the stance early leaders took right after the revolution. IMO, if anything this has held back Haiti more than anything and has been conveniently used by the politicians to divert the public eye from real issues to fabricated ones all the while they control the market and take the lion's share of what this poorest of poor countries produces. I only realized this after doing historical research, speaking with businessmen in Haiti and speaking with a young Haitian nurse in PAP that had emigrated to the US but had returned to work in a mission. I would expect you of all people to be able to see the grave bias.
 

tr77

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In long term we can not prevent man changing the planet. If change has a comercial interest, the change will happen it is just the question of the time. Not all things that man introduces into environment are automatically bad. An sorry to say, but our descendants will live on the completely different planet from ourselves.
 

NALs

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I don't think this fish will infiltrate the Dominican river system, at the very worst it might be limited to a few rivers along the border region.

Most Haitian rivers (or what's suppose to be rivers, ahem) and most Dominican rivers have origins basically within each country's territory and their trajectory remains in each separate country.

The Artibonite, which is Haiti's most important river and the only one of the major rivers of the island that actually flows into Haitian territory (also the only one that is not threatened of drying up since its origin is still covered by a dense forest), does begin in Dominican soil. I don't think the origin of this river is also the origin of any other major river in the country. As such, if the fishes are able to swim up the Cordillera Central, they will most likely not 'jump' into the other major sources.

No worries for any river system in the Eastern region since all those rivers, including the major one's like Hig?amo, Soco, etc start in the Cordillera Oriental, as far away from Haiti as possible. None are fed by tributary rivers from other systems.

The Cam?, Yuna and Yaque del Norte systems should remain free of such fishes.

The Yaque del Sur systems should have the same fate.