Biological warfare: Fish to fight dengue mosquito

LAHORE: The Department of Fisheries is to populate the city’s ponds with fish in an attempt to fight back against Aedes aegyptii, the dreaded mosquito responsible for the spread of the dengue virus. Fisheries Director General Muhammad Ashraf said the department was surveying all the water bodies in Lahore on the instructions of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for biological control over the mosquito population. “Fish eat mosquito larvae,” he said. He said 11,000 fish seed had already been released in ponds and lakes in Lahore, including 3,000 fish seed in the lake at Safari Park, 2,000 in the lake at Jallo Park, 1,000 each in the lakes at Linear Park-1 and Linear Park-2 in Model Town, 500 each in the lakes at Race Course Park, Minar-i-Pakistan, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Sabzazar, St Mary’s Park, Shalamar Gardens and Model Town Park.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19^th,  2011.