Dak Lak fishermen race against storm No. 13 to protect lobster cages

    THANH QUỲNH |

    Dak Lak - Before storm No. 13 was expected to make landfall, aquaculture people had to anchor their cages very carefully but were still worried because this was their livelihood.

    Before storm No. 13 (Kalmaegi) was expected to make landfall, fishermen in Xuan Dai ward and Song Cau ward (Dak Lak) were busy reinforcing and anchoring hundreds of lobster cages in Xuan Dai bay - their largest asset after many months of care.

    Nguoi dan da dua bot thuy san nuoi trong len bo nuoi tam nham han che thiet hai neu bao do bo. Anh: Thanh Quynh
    People have brought less aquaculture products to shore for temporary farming to limit damage if the storm makes landfall. Photo: Thanh Quynh

    Mr. Duong Van Dang, a long-time lobster farmer in Xuan Dai Bay, said that in recent days, he and many other farmers have been barely sleeping.

    "All assets are located in the bay, each shrimp cage is the capital of the whole year. I just hope the storm doesn't get too strong, but big waves are considered a total loss," Mr. Dang worried.

    Offshore, each group of fishermen is urgently reinforcing the buoy system, anchor ropes, moving the rafts to a windproof location.

    Mr. Nong Xuan Nien (Song Cau ward) shared that he heard about the strong storm, he immediately went to the bay to check the cages, reinforce the ropes, and then returned home to put up the folding door.

    This season, I released 4,000 green shrimp, half of them have been sold, the rest is being kept, just hoping to get through this big wind, he said.

    Anh Nong Xuan Nien (phuong Song Cau) cho hay da gia co long be nuoi trong thuy san truoc khi bao so 13 do bo. Anh: Thanh Quynh
    Mr. Nong Xuan Nien (Song Cau ward) said that he had reinforced aquaculture cages before storm No. 13 made landfall. Photo: Thanh Quynh

    According to the People's Committee of Xuan Dai Ward, the whole locality currently has 536 rafts/23,329 lobster cages and 252 oyster rafts.

    The farming households have been carefully tied and anchored, and have been propagated to harvest early to reduce damage.

    According to Mr. Pham Van Nguyen - Chairman of Xuan Dai Ward People's Committee, up to this point, people's cages and seafood rafts have been reinforced, tied up, and anchored to ensure response to rain and storms. The locality also propagates and notifies aquaculture households to harvest before the rainy and stormy season.

    In Song Cau ward, Mr. Tran Cong Hoan - Secretary of the ward Party Committee informed that there are nearly 93,000 cages of about 2,000 households in the area. Up to now, most of the rafts have been tied and supported. The authorities continued to patrol, check, and ask all people to leave the raft before the storm approached the shore.

    Currently, response work is being urgently deployed, with the highest goal of protecting lives.

    THANH QUỲNH