Guppies slated for release into local ponds are scooped into a net. Pic: Shwe Yinn Mar Oo

THE Department of Fisheries has started a project this month to release fish in areas with standing water in Yangon Division in an effort to reduce the population of dengue-bearing mosquitoes, said U Tun Win, the director of the department’s aquaculture division.

The project involves the release of young guppies and tilapia in stagnant ponds and gutters where mosquitoes breed. The fish help reduce insect populations by eating mosquito larva in the water.

U Tun Win said the department has already released 5000 young guppies each in Shwe Pauk Kan, Kyauktan and Twante townships near Yangon.
“We plan to release another 10,000 guppies and 20,000 tilapias in other township in the division,” he said. “We call this bio-control activity and there are no adverse side-effects. The project partly contributes to preventing dengue fever in Yangon Division.”

The department is also selling guppies and tilapias to the public at the Freshwater Fish Garden in Kandawgyi Park in Bahan township.

“These fish can live in every kind of water and they are also carnivorous,” said a spokesperson at the garden.

The guppies are available for K50 apiece, while tilapias are priced at K100 for a three-inch adult and K50 for a one-inch fingerling.