Solutions to Overcome The Mass Death of Caged Fish

According to the report of the Commanding Committee for Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue (Fire Prevention and Rescue) of Thanh Thuy district, in the past few days, the low water level of the Da River combined with the change in flow has caused the phenomenon of fish cages hanging. Causing death of farmed fish, mainly in Thach Dong and Bao Yen communes. In addition, the fish cages raised in some other communes in the district also appeared scattered deaths.

Currently, the whole district of Thanh Thuy has 450 fish cages raised by 11 households. The main types of fish that are raised are carp, carp, fried, persimmon, carp, etc. Before the Lunar New Year, in some fish cages in Doan Ha, Bao Yen, Xuan Loc, Thach Dong communes, the situation appeared. In the past ten days alone, 26 fish cages of 4 households died in mass, of which 21 cages died over 70%, the output was estimated at nearly 35 tons of fish, loss damage over 1.7 billion VND. 

The water of the Da River dropped sharply because the Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant closed down to blow down, causing dozens of fish cages to lie on the sand, dead fish due to insufficient oxygen and lack of living space.

Mr. Tran Quoc Toan in Bao Yen commune, Thanh Thuy district said: In the past few days, Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant has closed the bottom discharge door without notice, closed again at night, the water receded. It was too fast for us to react. Many cages have completely floated to the surface of the sand, some of which are about to be harvested. My family alone had nearly ten tons of fish died, the damage amounted to hundreds of millions of dong.

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In recent years, cage fish farming on the Da River has been frequently affected by the discharge and closure of Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant. If this situation continues, it is not good that we have to give up cage fish farming in the river because we cannot sustain it. 

Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Huong, Deputy Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department said: Besides the closure of the Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant, causing the water level to decrease, it is also the cause of the impact of the recent storm No. Due to the large volume of water discharged from the channels into the river, in some farming areas, fishes are deprived of oxygen and living space, leading to mass death.

Mr. Nguyen Van Giap's family in zone 2, Bao Yen commune collects dead fish to destroy and avoid polluting the environment.

Immediately after receiving the report from the People's Committees of the communes, the leaders of Thanh Thuy district directly inspected and asked the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to coordinate with the Fisheries Sub-Department to find out the cause of fish death and guide measures to remedy, handle and destroy dead fish to ensure environmental sanitation.

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Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Huong added: In the short term, the district has instructed cage fish farmers to implement measures to clean cages and fish rafts daily to create a circulation flow, helping to wash away accumulated waste of fish. Fish, minimizing toxic gas during farming. At the same time, it is recommended that people temporarily stop stocking new fish, only release new ones when the water environment on the river is guaranteed, use aerators, water pumps to increase dissolved oxygen content.

In addition, the district also suggested to the Provincial People's Committee to request the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant ministries and branches to direct Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant when closing and opening the discharge gates, to proactively notify for localities in the Da River basin to promptly notify cage farmers to move fish, pump additional water, enhance aeration as well as harvest commercial fish that have reached weight to limit to the lowest level. damage occurs.

Source: Tepbac.com