Playing God with Haiti’s freshwater ecosystems

Originally Posted @ Strange Attractions: April 20, 2011 @ 10:52:26 PM UTC | Reposted with the permission of the Author: un.chemyst

In September of 2010, thousands of live fish of the species Gambusia holbrooki^* were transported by air from a rural fish farm in the Mississippi Delta region of the southern United States to one on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where they are to be raised in tanks and released into freshwater ecosystems all over the country. These fish, one of two Gambusia species commonly known as “mosquitofish” in English, are native to the southeastern United States, and no sightings of the fish have previously been reported in freshwater ecosystems in Haiti or elsewhere on the island of Hispaniola. The reason given for this mass introduction is to aide in malaria eradication efforts in Haiti: malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes, mosquitoes lay their eggs on the surface of standing bodies of freshwater, and the omnivorous mosquitofish, in addition to any other food source available, will certainly eat mosquito eggs and larvae as their name suggests. Intentional introductions of these fish as a biological method of mosquito control have been carried out all over the world since 1905, with many introductions resulting in long-term establishment of mosquitofish populations outside of their native range [1].

Successful invasions of alien species in island ecosystems often have severe ecological and socioeconomic impacts [2], and mosquitofish meet two important criteria which suggest that a successful invasion would likely result from their introduction into an area [3]: they can survive under a large range of environmental conditions, especially temperature [4] and salinity [5], allowing them to successfully establish populations wherever they are introduced, and they are highly mobile [6], allowing established populations to spread rapidly. Also, mosquitofish have a history of successful, and ecologically disruptive, invasions outside their native range. They often populate the ecosystems they invade at high densities, and since zooplankton constitute the overwhelming majority of their diet, their presence often results in elevated phytoplankton levels, and even algal blooms [7]. They attack native fish in the ecosystems they invade, compete with them for food, and eat their minnows [8] [9]. Amphibian species, some of which are also important mosquito predators [10], have been shown to be particularly threatened by mosquitofish introductions [11] [12] [13], as moquitofish eat their eggs and tadpoles. There are at least three related Gambusia species endemic to Hispaniola, and it appears that the proponents of this project have completely overlooked these fish both as a potential native species for use in biological mosquito control and also as species that would be potentially impacted by a mosquitofish invasion. Competition and hybridization with invading mosquitofish have threatened multiple rare species of Gambusia endemic to the southwestern United States, and the invasion of mosquitofish almost certainly contributed to the recent extinction of G. amistadensis in Texas [14] [15].

This, of course, is not to downplay the reality of the long history of human suffering caused by malaria in Hispaniola, a history that goes back to the first arrival of Europeans on the island in 1492. Malaria likely played a role in the decline and eventual extermination of the Taíno people who were living on the island when the first Europeans arrived, although probably not as significant of a role as smallpox or the cruel policy of genocide and forced assimilation practiced by the European conquerers. Malaria subsequently spread to much of the rest of the Americas, although contemporary Hispaniola is the only island left in the Caribbean where malaria has yet to be eradicated, with much of the effective disease reservoir being localized to the rural lowlands of Haiti [16]. In 2009, evidence for malaria resistance to chloroquine, an important drug for the treatment and prevention of malaria, was first reported on the island [17], and in 2010, a massive earthquake displaced over a million people, increasing their susceptibility to the disease [18]. Both events make the need for a campaign towards comprehensive malaria eradication even more timely [16].

The most essential tool for malaria eradication, however, would be the ability to effectively diagnose and treat malaria across the entire island, with the large scale distribution of mosquito netting to prevent transmission of the disease also being of prime importance [16]. Control of mosquito populations would certainly help these efforts, but the effectiveness of fish introductions is more or less limited to eliminating mosquitoes from fishless ponds. Tree holes, coconut shells, discarded tires, and peridomestic containers are also important breeding grounds for mosquitoes in rural tropical areas [19] [20] [21], making fish introductions only effective when integrated with environmental management, other biological methods, and possibly even chemical methods [22]. And fortunately, there are countless species of omnivorous freshwater fish around the world which will also consume mosquito larvae when they are available as a food source and which have just as much potential as do mosquitofish for biological mosquito control within their native range [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29], making mosquitofish introductions completely unnecessary. There is, of course, one thing that all of these tools for successful malaria eradication all have in common: they all require a significant and prolonged engagement with and investment in rural communities across Haiti.

The potentially severe consequences of this attempt at using mosquitofish to control malaria in Haiti and the rather naive assumptions immanent in its rationale make it a rather curious project. The organization behind it is Operation Blessing International (OBI), a non-profit organization with an explicitly Christian mission and an annual revenue in excess of $400,000,000 founded by wealthy televangelist Pat Robertson in 1978. But there is an additional level of irony in that, even assuming that the intentions at all levels of the organization are genuine, OBI is, by engaging in such deliberate ecosystem engineering, effectively disregarding two important convictions that are nearly universal in Christian theology: that the Earth is God’s creation, and that God’s judgment should not be questioned. In the biblical creation narrative, the reason that Adam, the first man, is placed in God’s creation at all is merely “to tend and watch over it” (Gn 2:15), and Adam is never called upon to improve upon it as he sees fit, or to move things around. Adam’s descendants, at various points in the Old Testament, question God’s judgment and will. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” (Jb 38:4) is what God says to Job after one such incident. The Book of Ecclesiastes, echoing its persistent theme of human vanity, asks in reference to the work of God “who can make straight what He has made crooked?” (Ec 7:13).

Pat Robertson has been well known for his large investments in mineral extraction interests in the countries where OBI operates, his use of OBI resources for his personal business ventures, and his close ties to right-wing dictators who violently expropriate land from and enforce crippling economic policies on the people they rule [30]. But whatever the organization’s larger plans for Haiti may be, the project to introduce mosquitofish to the country appears to be nothing more than a gimmick: a mythical “silver bullet” born in the heart of the rural U.S. South and about to be used against an exotic foe for once and for all, which when stripped of the reality of its certain ineffectiveness and its potentially severe consequences, is sure to win over the hearts of North American donors. The long-term consequences of this project for Haiti’s freshwater ecosystems are completely irrelevant to the project’s viability anyways, as it is not the people who live in Haiti and depend on its freshwater ecosystems for their livelihoods who control the means in which their collective suffering is exploited as the Christian tradition of charity is commodified. Equally irrelevant are the theological contradictions inherent in the project, as the project is not in any way an act of Christian charity, but a gimmick which is being sold to charitable Christians. Like the introduction of malaria itself to Hispaniola, the brutal extermination of the people who inhabited the island at the time, the clearing of the island’s forests for plantation agriculture, the damming of its rivers, and the reckless extraction of its mineral resources, the introduction of mosquitofish to Haiti amounts to simply another permanent alteration of Hispaniola’s landscape and ecology for short-term private profit, this time in the name of the empire of Pat Robertson.

Photo Credit: Paparazzo Presents

References

1. L.A. Krumholz, "Reproduction in the Western Mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis affinis (Baird & Girard), and Its Use in Mosquito Control", Ecological Monographs, vol. 18, 1948, pp. 1-. DOI.
2. J.K. REASER, L.A. MEYERSON, Q. CRONK, M. DE POORTER, L. ELDREGE, E. GREEN, M. KAIRO, P. LATASI, R.N. MACK, J. MAUREMOOTOO, D. O'DOWD, W. ORAPA, S. SASTROUTOMO, A. SAUNDERS, C. SHINE, S. THRAINSSON, and L. VAIUTU, "Ecological and socioeconomic impacts of invasive alien species in island ecosystems", Environmental Conservation, vol. 34, 2007, pp. 98-. DOI.
3. C.S. Kolar, "Ecological Predictions and Risk Assessment for Alien Fishes in North America", Science, vol. 298, pp. 1233-1236. DOI.
4. R.G. Otto, "Temperature tolerance of the mosquitofish, Gambmia affinis (Baird and Girard)", Journal of Fish Biology, vol. 5, 1973, pp. 575-585. DOI.
5. J. Chervinski, "Salinity tolerance of the mosquito fish, Gambusia affinis (Baird and Girard)", Journal of Fish Biology, vol. 22, 1983, pp. 9-11. DOI.
6. J.S. Rehage, and A. Sih, "Dispersal Behavior, Boldness, and the Link to Invasiveness: A Comparison of Four Gambusia Species", Biological Invasions, vol. 6, 2004, pp. 379-391. DOI.
7. S.H. Hurlbert, and M.S. Mulla, "Impacts of mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) predation on plankton communities", Hydrobiologia, vol. 83, 1981, pp. 125-151. DOI.
8. N. Caiola, and A. Sostoa, "Possible reasons for the decline of two native toothcarps in the Iberian Peninsula: evidence of competition with the introduced Eastern mosquitofish", Journal of Applied Ichthyology, vol. 21, 2005, pp. 358-363. DOI.
9. D.K. Rowe, J.P. Smith, and C. Baker, "Agonistic interactions between Gambusia affinis and Galaxias maculatus: implications for whitebait fisheries in New Zealand rivers", Journal of Applied Ichthyology, vol. 23, 2007, pp. 668-674. DOI.
10. S.E. DuRant, and W.A. Hopkins, "Amphibian predation on larval mosquitoes", Canadian Journal of Zoology, vol. 86, 2008, pp. 1159-1164. DOI.
11. S. Komak, and M.R. Crossland, , Wildlife Research, vol. 27, pp. 185-. DOI.
12. H. A., L. S., and M. M., "The role of introduced mosquitofish ( Gambusia holbrooki ) in excluding the native green and golden bell frog ( Litoria aurea ) from original habitats in south-eastern Australia", Oecologia, vol. 132, 2002, pp. 445-452. DOI.
13. S.C. Gamradt, and L.B. Kats, "Effect of Introduced Crayfish and Mosquitofish on California Newts", Conservation Biology, vol. 10, 1996, pp. 1155-1162. DOI.
14. G. Huxel, "Rapid displacement of native species by invasive species: effects of hybridization", Biological Conservation, vol. 89, pp. 143-152. DOI.
15. K.T. Scribner, K.S. Page, and M.L. Bartron, , Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, vol. 10, pp. 293-323. DOI.
16. J. Keating, D.J. Krogstad, and T.P. Eisele, "Malaria elimination on Hispaniola", The Lancet Infectious Diseases, vol. 10, 2010, pp. 291-293. DOI.
17. B.L. Londono, "Chloroquine-Resistant Haplotype Plasmodium falciparum Parasites, Haiti", Emerging Infectious Diseases, vol. 15, 2009, pp. 735-740. DOI.
18. P. Adams, "Rainy season could hamper Haiti's recovery", The Lancet, vol. 375, 2010, pp. 1067-1069. DOI.
19. S.M. Kulkarni, and P.S. Naik, "Breeding habitats of mosquitoes in Goa.", Indian journal of malariology, vol. 26.
20. J.C. Anosike, B.E.B. Nwoke, A.N. Okere, E.E. Oku, J.E. Asor, I.O. Emmy-Egbe, and D.A. Adimike, "Epidemiology of tree-hole breeding mosquitoes in the tropical rainforest of Imo State, south-east Nigeria.", Annals of agricultural and environmental medicine : AAEM, vol. 14.
21. D.A. Yee, "Tires as habitats for mosquitoes: a review of studies within the eastern United States.", Journal of medical entomology, vol. 45.
22. L.A. Lacey, and B.K. Orr, "The role of biological control of mosquitoes in integrated vector control.", The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, vol. 50.
23. S.M. Nelson, and L.C. Keenan, "Use of an indigenous fish species, Fundulus zebrinus, in a mosquito abatement program: a field comparison with the mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis.", Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, vol. 8.
24. D.K. Lee, "Predation efficacy of the fish muddy loach, Misgurnus mizolepis, against Aedes and Culex mosquitoes in laboratory and small rice plots.", Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, vol. 16.
25. T.P. Hurst, M.D. Brown, and B.H. Kay, "Laboratory evaluation of the predation efficacy of native Australian fish on Culex annulirostris (Diptera: Culicidae).", Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, vol. 20.
26. A.R. Van Dam, and W.E. Walton, "Comparison of mosquito control provided by the arroyo chub (Gila orcutti) and the mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis).", Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, vol. 23.
27. P. Irwin, and S. Paskewitz, "Investigation of fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) as a biological control agent of Culex mosquitoes under laboratory and field conditions.", Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, vol. 25.
28. V. Louca, M.C. Lucas, C. Green, S. Majambere, U. Fillinger, and S.W. Lindsay, "Role of fish as predators of mosquito larvae on the floodplain of the Gambia River.", Journal of medical entomology, vol. 46.
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^* UPDATE April 27,2011:
Operation Blessing International has said they did not import Gambusia Holbrooki Fish Into Haiti, they introduced Gambusia Affinis. In response, the author of this piece states:

The difference between G. holbrooki and G. affinis is minor. They are both known as "mosquitofish" in American English and though they are two separate species, they are often treated as one in the scientific literature because their biology is very similar. Some of literature that I cited, especially those by Australian scientists, actually deal with G. affinis, since that was the species introduced there (G. holbrooki was introduced in Europe, Asia, and Africa).

I'm not sure if I believe their claim that G. affinis already exists in Haiti, though. When I wrote the article, I searched pretty hard for any evidence that either species had been introduced to the island, but found none. If it was already there, why did they have to fly fish in from Mississippi? And why aren't they using native fish? Perhaps I could contact Dr. Abe personally to clarify this.

They claim that they are not going to release G. affinis into open water, which is good. This doesn't mean that G. affinis won't successfully invade freshwater ecosystems though, especially in the event of a flood.

So, although I will certainly edit my article to reflect their claim that it was G. affinis that they introduced, I certainly will not change my analysis. I'm working on drafting an open letter Bill Horan, which I will post on my website. I plan to address the fact that the press release seems to imply that they didn't just introduce a species of fish into Haiti, which they did. It also does not accept that what they are doing will have ecological consequences, which it will.

un.chemyst

An open letter to Bill Horan

Posted: April 27, 2011 @ 3:45:54 AM UTC | Author: un.chemyst

Somali Pirates - The Other Side of the Story

A conversation with Somali Rapper Knaan about the Somali pirates

Music: When I get older, I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom, just like a waving flag


[rough transcript]

Knaan (rapping): We should know about the pirates terrorize the oceans
To never know a simple day without a big commotion
It can't be healthy to live with such a steep emotion
And when I try and sleep, I see coffins closing

Knaan: The Pirate situation in Somalia, has been massive in the media. You know what I mean, New York Times, front page, that sort of thing, But, it's never really, it's so interesting to me that, it's never really discussed in the way Somali's discuss it.

So, whenever... I mean, because we are the issue that people are talking about. And whenever Somali's get together and talk about Pirates. Ah.. the Pirates scenario. That... we talk about them as though they're the coast guards of the country.

We don't talk about them as if they are like, this evil group that's disturbing European trade. Which we don't really care about too much. It's like... European trade is fine, as long as it doesn't... as long as we get respected in our waters. In our territories. Our territories and waters has not been respected by the international community for a very long time.

There's been mass illegal fishing from foreign vessels. That are coming into the country. And just taking the resources of the Somali people. But also, even more sinister, is that there's foreign vessels coming in and dumping nuclear toxic waste into our shores.

Interviewer: This is the other side of the story, this is what they don't tell you on CNN.

Knaan: They can't, because they would implicate a lot of their legitimate companies that exist here... are not so legitimate, when they go to places where illegitimate governments. You know, they start to behave... they lose their charm, when they get over there.

Interviewer: So, that is a very accurate description; so you are the coast guard. And this makes perfect sense. I mean, you know for a while I was concerned. Maybe I shouldn't be taking my luxury liner/boat over there. But, now I didn't realize that when they were driving by the horn of Africa passing near Somalia. It wasn't to show us your beautiful country. It was to dump the waste and then go back.

Knaan: Yeah. And it's incredible, how crazy that is to dump nuclear toxic waste on people's shores. Because especially, we're on the Indian Ocean and Somalia is the largest coastal running line in Africa. And so it's completely un-protectable this area. And so what they have been doing, is for a ling time; you know the mobsters that used to be in New York, in the fishing industry, a lot of those guys went into the nuclear toxic waste business. Which sometimes is legitimate, and sometimes very, very illegitimate. And so they've been dumping these containers.

The thing is, if you dump... there's ways to properly package this stuff and get rid of it and put it in the water. And if you do that, usually you do that in cold waters. But the Indian Ocean is warm water. Where it would have taken in the cold water for a container to open up and break apart over a thousand years. In Somalia, in the Indian Ocean it will take just about a hundred years to open up. So were looking and facing an environmental disaster affecting the entire region of eastern Africa. The home of... the world's birthplace basically.

That this could have major consequences on the environment and human lives for generations to come. And you mean to tell me that the US and the Europeans sending all their navy power to stop the pirates, that we see as stopping that criminal activity. That's kinda the problem.

Interviewer: We've been talking a lot here in the US about green jobs and a green economy. You know, I'll just toss this out here again... it seems like that's a pretty green act that the green movement should get behind. And I wonder if more people from the green movement who are running around asking that Japan stop harpooning the whales and other folks that are trying to save the polar bears, see saving the Somali coastline and all the resources there in the same light.

Knaan: Yeah, well. (laughing) It's very interesting. Because the fact is that this has gotten all the way up to the UN Security Council. It's gotten high up. This issue of Somali... the nuclear toxic waste being dumped in Somalia. And then completely vetoed by the major powers. And forgotten about. And kinda just shoved under a rock.

Interviewer: Which major powers? Can you name a couple, so we can keep them on tap?

Knaan: I think France and the US both had interest in vetoing this issue. And of course France is in the waters. The navy is there. I mean, It's a major problem.

I think, what's really the sad thing about Somalia and Africa in general. When it comes to these kinds of progressive movements you have here in the West and in the US. Such as the green movement and the environmental culture and so on. Is once it's Black, green doesn't really matter so much any more.

Interviewer: ...How distorting the news has been, to make it seem like there were a bunch of uncontrolled barbarians running around, you know, just attacking luxury liners and I guess they didn't tell the story. That you all weren't killing people. You were holding them... and you know basically...

Knaan: Not one death. Not one death caused by these Pirates. Not one injury. In fact, they have such rules, such strict rules, guidelines, these Pirate's groups. If you verbally assault a captain, that there is a percentage cut off your pay. Your future pay. And so they are very, very well behaved. And they know what they are doing. They are very professional. They went out there initially to protect us.

Democracy Now! has analysis of the situation on their site.

Analysis: Somalia Piracy Began in Response to Illegal Fishing and Toxic Dumping by Western Ships off Somali Coast

President Obama vowed an international crackdown to halt piracy off the coast of Somalia Monday soon after the freeing of US cargo ship captain Richard Phillips, who had been held hostage by Somali pirates since last Wednesday. While the pirates story has dominated the corporate media, there has been little to no discussion of the root causes driving piracy. We speak with consultant and analyst Mohamed Abshir Waldo. In January, he wrote a paper titled “The Two Piracies in Somalia: Why the World Ignores the Other?” [includes rush transcript]