Deadly marine fish died along 4 central provinces

The coastline running through the provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien - Hue all recorded mass mortality of marine fish, many of which are far-shore, in-depth, weighing up to 35-50kg.

A few days ago, fishermen in Loc Vinh commune (Phu Loc, Thua Thien - Hue) discovered many kinds of fish like, drowning, stunting . dying to flood the beach. Being a fisherman with many years of experience, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thao (57 years old, Phu Hai village, Loc Vinh commune) could not explain this phenomenon. Many species live on the seabed and it is very difficult to catch, now also die.

Many fish species were raised by farmers in coastal ponds in Loc Vinh commune, Phu Loc district (Thua Thien - Hue) and died off.(Photo: Dac Duc).

"From now until now, I have never seen such a strange sea fish. People are curious and want to know the cause very well," said Thao and said many fishermen have accepted to dry boats. , not reaching the beach many days now because the sea trips now have not much fish to catch.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tao's household (Binh An village, Loc Vinh commune) and some households with fish cages and aquariums located close to Lach Giang estuary also noted the phenomenon of dead fish, stinking smell."Two days before the tide rose, the seawater overflowed in many lakes. By the time the tide receded, many fishes in the lake and in the rivers also died, floating around," said Tao.

Mr. Le Cong Minh, Chairman of Loc Vinh Commune People's Committee said that the situation of dead fish occurred from 14 to 18 April, scattered on the coast stretching nearly 20km managed by the commune. Among the dead fish collected by people, many species live far from the shore.

"This is a very strange phenomenon, there has never been a local before. There are days, people picked up fish weighing up to 35kg," Minh said and said when the fish died a lot, the authorities had It is recommended that people do not pump water from the sea into the aquarium, do not eat dead fish to avoid affecting health.

Fishermen Nguyen Xuan Thao (Loc Vinh commune) said that after the appearance of dead fish, many households had dried their boats, not going out to fish.(Photo: Dac Duc).

Meanwhile, Mr. Tran Van Giang, Chairman of the People's Committee of Lang Co Town (Phu Loc) said that not only sea fish washed ashore but many areas of cage farming of people in Doc Gieng, An Cu Dong village (area Lang Co seaport) also recorded the status of dead fish. Nearly 5 tons of fish of more than 100 households raising many varieties such as pink, grouper, and . died, causing losses of nearly one billion VND.

According to Mr. Giang, does not exclude the possibility of heavily polluted seawater that causes a large amount of dead fish to drift ashore on an area of ​​nearly 21km of coastline at Lang Co.

"Initially, the local functional industry's test results recorded a high pH in seawater, while the oxygen content was low, leading to a lack of oxygen. This is said to be one of the causes. situation of dead fish " , Mr. Giang information.

Mr. Bach Van Khai, Head of Agriculture Department of Phu Loc district, said he took water samples and sent them to the Department of Exploitation and Protection of Aquatic Resources, Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Thua Thien - Hue province to test."Particularly, pH levels suddenly increased from 7.5 to 8.5," Khai said, still waiting for accurate conclusions from the functional unit to inform people of peace of mind.

A tortoise fish weighing up to 35kg died on the coast of Loc Vinh commune on April 18.(Photo: Le Minh).

The phenomenon of dead fish was first recorded in cages in the sea, near Vung Ang economic zone (Ky Anh town, Ha Tinh) in early April. After that, natural marine fish, caged fish and coastal lakes of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien - Hue all died. Every day, coastal fishermen collect tons of dead fish, each weighing from a few to 50kg.

Research Institute for Aquaculture No. I (Northern Center for Environmental and Aquatic Disease Monitoring) by checking water environment, pathogens, concluding common elements and toxic gases due to organic decomposition must cause the fish to die.The most likely direct cause is toxic substances in the water , possibly from untreated wastewater discharged into rivers and seas.

What is this unique element is yet to be found.

According to the report of Thua Thien - Hue Department of Agriculture (by rapid test tool), PO4 content of 1 mg / liter was found; pH 8.8; alkalinity 89.5; salinity of 30 parts per thousand. Specifically, the quality of eutrophic water (PO4 according to the maximum allowable index of 0.5 mg / liter, but at the time of measurement is 1 mg / liter) increases the pH. This can cause fish to be shocked and die a lot due to sudden changes in water pH; PO4 increased.

In addition, algae thrive, combined with toxic gas at the bottom of the cage, accumulate when the temperature rises during the time of the season leading to a lack of local oxygen causing fish to die quickly.