Fish for Foreclosures

Last summer I posted on an unsanitary (and sometimes dangerous) side effect of foreclosed homes in warm climates — abandoned swimming pools. These pools, when not drained of water, become infested with mosquitoes, which in turn

create the perfect breeding ground for the West Nile virus. Some of the highest rates of negative equity — and resulting foreclosures — are also in some of the states with the warmest climates, creating a major problem in the summer months.

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, one method officials in certain areas of Arizona, California and Florida are tackling the West Nile problem with is a fish. The aptly-titled “mosquito fish” has the ability to survive in an oxygen-depleted swimming pool, eat up to 500 larvae a day, and spawn rapidly. These fish were also used for stagnant swimming pools in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina; they’re also presumably less expensive and more environmentally friendly than pesticides.

So what happens to the fish once a foreclosed home is sold? According to the WSJ article, new owners can collect the fish and return them to their local mosquito control agency. But more often, the fish just die after the mosquito larvae is depleted, or the new home owners discard the fish before draining the pool to get it ready for their own use.

“That’s part of the program,” says Chris Miller, a biologist at the Contra Costa mosquito and vector control district. “They are sacrificial.”