Volunteer shortage forces Pinette/Flat River mosquito control program closure
After nearly 10 years of keeping mosquitoes and black flies at bay by spraying, the Pinette/Flat River Mosquito Program will end this season.
“Unless someone really wants to organize and revitalize the program,” said current organizer Ian Dohoo.
Finding volunteer power is the current issue, not sourcing funds for supplies, he said.
The pool of volunteers who have applied roughly 10 treatments per season to local marshes has dwindled from nearly 20 in the program’s heyday to a handful of “hardcore” locals.
These volunteers’ licenses are set to expire this season and they have decided not to renew.
“It can be difficult work,” Mr Dohoo said. Volunteers need to apply Vectobac to breeding grounds, at just the right point in a fly populations’ life cycle. Breeding sites can be difficult to access and require bushwhacking through bug infested grass and marshland.
Vectobac is a bacteria, not a pesticide, Mr Dohoo said. However, since 2019 volunteers have been required to hold a pesticide application license in order to apply the relatively safe and harmless treatments. This can be another barrier for interested volunteers.
If the program does die, “I think there will be impacts,” Mr Dohoo said.
“Some people are affected by mosquitoes more than others,” he said. A thick fly population can impact residents’ day to day enjoyment and quality of life as well as tourism in the area.
In 2021 the Pinette/Flat River and the Point Prim Mosquito Control Group (which has since ceased operation) surveyed Belfast tourism operators.
Among 12 responses all but one indicated mosquitoes had a negative impact on their business. Six respondents estimated that over 30 per cent of their clients raised concerns about this problem.
Operators also reported feedback they have received from tourists.
One tourist reportedly said they would never vacation on PEI again because of the mosquitoes. Another said, if they had known how bad the mosquitoes were, they wouldn’t have come.
There could be an impact on the environment as well, Mr Dohoo said.
If mosquito or blackfly populations swell, locals may be inclined to purchase treatments for their individual properties. These treatments typically involve pesticides that can have serious impacts on important and at-risk insects like bees and butterflies, he said.
Rachel Collier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Graphic
