Lost dozens of tons of fish after water changes color
These days, cage and raft fish farming households along the Hieu River (also known as Thach Han River) section passing through Cua Viet commune, Quang Tri province) are falling into poverty when fish raised in cages all die abnormally.
According to Mr. Le Van Duong (resident of Tan Loc village, Cua Viet commune), his family raised 6 cages of goby fish and giant catfish on the river. From July 4, he discovered a strange colored water source.
By July 5th, the river water was completely dark, the fish in the cages started to refuse to eat and then surfaced. From July 6th onwards, the fish died en masse, the big ones were sold off cheaply, the small ones had to be picked up and thrown away, my family lost about 9,000 fish" - Mr. Duong choked up.
On the morning of July 11, in an exchange with Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Le Van Thong - Chairman of Cua Viet Commune People's Committee said that the whole commune currently has 96 hectares of brackish water shrimp and crab farming along the Hieu River bank with 15 million seeds, along with 11 households raising cage fish (39 cages, an area of more than 3,500 m3) with over 60 thousand fish of all kinds such as mackerel, snakehead fish, red tilapia, mackerel, brown fish...
Immediately after receiving feedback from people on the morning of July 9, Cua Viet Commune People's Committee coordinated with Livestock and Veterinary Station No. 7 and the Center for Agricultural and Environmental Monitoring to directly go to the scene to take fish and water samples for testing. Initial inspection results recorded that from July 5 to July 10, 14 fish cages were completely dead, with a total damage volume of more than 22 tons.
Not only in Cua Viet commune, the abnormal fish death situation also stretches across many sections of the Hieu and Thach Han river basins. In Dong Ha ward, natural fish on the Hieu river in the saltwater intrusion prevention dam area and farmed fish in ponds and lakes in Dong Giang 2 area also die sporadically.
Similarly, at the end of the river source, Mr. Tran Viet Dung - Chairman of Nam Cua Viet Commune People's Committee confirmed that cage-raised fish and natural fish in Bac Phuoc village, An Ha appeared to die for unknown reasons from July 4. Before the fish died, people recorded a streak of abnormally colored water flowing through, causing fish to float sluggishly and then backwards.
Suspension of river water intake, waiting for test results
Faced with complicated developments, the People's Committee of Cua Viet commune is directing specialized departments to closely monitor the area, and at the same time requesting aquaculture households to absolutely not supply water from the Hieu River to shrimp and crab ponds when there are no results of water quality analysis. The commune also proposed that the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Quang Tri province urgently clarify the cause of fish deaths, increase the frequency of periodic water sampling to inform people to proactively respond.
In order to prevent the risk of spreading pollution, on July 10, the People's Committee of Dong Ha ward and localities along the Hieu and Thach Han rivers issued an urgent document requesting cooperatives, cooperative groups and households to immediately stop pumping water from the Hieu River into aquaculture ponds until a safety notice is issued.
Currently, the Economic Departments of localities are focusing on statistics on the total damage of people. Specialized agencies under the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Quang Tri province have completed the collection of specimens and water samples for testing, soon finding the cause of this unusual fish death phenomenon.
