Bringing fish to raise
Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dam Rong district, informed that the district currently has 15 hectares of cold-water fish farming water. According to the plan, in the 2025-2030 period, the locality will expand the farming area to 50 hectares.
In recent years, Ro Men commune, Dam Rong district, Lam Dong province has been known as the "capital" of cold-water fish farming (child caught, salmon) of the locality.
Fish farming creates high profits, contributing to promoting local economic and social development. Here, each year, fish farming earns billions of dong for people.
However, currently, farmers here are in difficult circumstances because the water source from the stream in the forest is dry.
In 2024, due to the impact of drought, many households were forced to reduce fish farming capacity. Some households also move fish to other farms in the province to send.
Ms. Mai Thi Kim Ngoc, a resident in this area, said that the unit currently has 10 fish ponds with a total area of about 1ha. In recent years, sturgeon has grown and developed well in suitable environments.
"In the commune, only the water source from Nuoc Mat stream meets the conditions for raising sturgeon. However, in the dry season, the stream water is depleted, and fish farmers are very worried" - Ms. Ngoc shared.
Next to Ms. Ngoc's house, Mr. Nong Manh Cuong is one of the large-scale fish farming households with a total of 18 concrete lakes and plastic tarpaulins.
Mr. Cuong shared: "Suoi Nuoc Mat is scarce, just enough to meet 1 water pipe flowing into the tank. Due to lack of water, the fish cannot eat, the fish get sick and die a lot. My family had to reduce capacity and close 10 tanks."
According to Mr. Cuong, the water shortage occurs during the dry season, which is from December of the previous year to the end of April of the following year.
In particular, since 2019, many households and businesses have invested in raising sturgeon, so the water shortage has become increasingly serious.
Do not expand the area
Mr. Le Cong Trong, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ro Men commune, informed that cold-water fish have high economic efficiency, so the locality creates conditions for people to invest and develop.
The biggest difficulty at present is the dry season, the water source of streams is reduced, so farming households have to share with each other to maintain fish farming.
"Recently, we have advised people not to expand the farming area, reduce commercial fish output or convert farms to raise other types of aquatic products to ensure safety" - Mr. Trong said.
According to Mr. Trong, in the coming time, the People's Committee of the commune will coordinate with relevant agencies to learn about technical solutions to save water resources in developing cold-water fish.
In this context, the locality will advise people to apply techniques to production to avoid damage caused by climate change.
