Division of Fish & Wildlife

The Delaware Mosquito Control Section works to reduce mosquitoes while improving habitat resources for fish and wildlife through our Open Marsh Water Management (OMWM) efforts.

OMWM is a mosquito control technique that has been successfully used in Delaware since 1979.  It is supported by the Delaware Division of Fish & Wildlife's Mosquito Control Section as an ideal means of mosquito control through the use of marsh management methods that reduce the application of chemicals and increase biological control through fish predation.  Click here for more information.

Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus)

Salt Meadows Marsh - Fenwick Island, Delaware

OMWM construction was performed on approximately 4 acres of marsh in the Salt Meadows Marsh in 2009.  The OMWM project restored tidal exchange and fish access to the marsh.

Past OMWM Projects

Since the inception of the OMWM program in 1979, there have been approximately 4,000 acres of mosquito-producing marsh treated with the construction of OMWM systems. There are approximately 750 acres of OMWM installed in the Inland Bay marshes from Rehoboth to Fenwick and 3,000 acres in the Delaware Bay Marshes from Little Creek to Lewes.

  

Resources

• Open Marsh Water Management
• "Guidelines for Open Marsh Water Management in Delaware's Salt Marshes" (Wetlands)
• Open Marsh Water Management in Delaware: 1979-2007" (Proceedings of the New Jersey Mosquito Control Association)

Please call our Milford field office at 302-422-1512 for more information.