In the past few days, groupers, oysters and green mussels of people in Hon Tre commune, Kien Hai district, Kien Giang province have died of unknown causes, at risk of heavy losses.
On the morning of February 17, Mr. Le Van Ut, in Hon Tre commune, said that 1 thousand green mussel ropes (strings that are tied with a net to be dropped into the sea, green mussels will cling to live) of the farming family, have sold more than 60 times in one batch. % at the price of 19-20 thousand VND/kg; The remaining green mussels were not sold before they were sold.
Meanwhile, Ms. Vo Thi Tham, a fisherman in cages and rafts in Hon Tre commune, said that she has about 40 cages and rafts for raising grouper, yellowfin pompano, oysters, etc. However, she does not know why. Oysters and grouper raised by her family have died a lot in the past few days.
“About 30,000 fingerlings (price 40,000 VND/seedling), which I put in the cage for more than 15 days, have died almost 100%. In addition, about 10 tons of oysters my family was about to sell for 40,000 VND/kg died. I don’t know if the water is contaminated or not, but getting into the water is very itchy. Fish and oysters died this time, my family suffered a heavy loss,” said Tham.
Tham also added that more than 2,000 groupers left alive in cages are also having eye explosion and scabies on the tail. She is also trying to treat the water source to save this group of groupers, but has not made much progress.
As noted, many households have to remove dead fish to avoid spreading on a large scale. Some households raising oysters and green mussels sadly left the rope on the raft, not having time to cut the rope.
Deputy head of the Division of Agriculture and Rural Development of Kien Hai district Dang Tung Long said that in the whole Kien Hai district, there are 228 households raising fish in cages and rafts, with 1,128 cages, concentrated in all four communes, including: Hon Tre, Lai Son, An Son and Nam Du. People mainly raise grouper, cobia, snapper, yellow fin pompano, green mussel, oyster… the output is estimated at more than 1,000 tons/year.
The price of cobia fish is 200-230 thousand VND/kg; grouper 260-670 thousand VND/kg; yellowfin pompano 130-140 thousand VND/kg (depending on type). With high fish prices, many local households have boldly expanded production and stocked fingerlings in large quantities.
Regarding grouper, oysters died in mass, Mr. Long said the unit had grasped the information. However, through fact-finding about a week ago, only a few households in Hon Tre commune were affected, other communes were not affected much.
According to Mr. Long, the district’s specialized agency had also taken water samples to send for testing, and determined, like the annual practice, this time because the water environment of Hon Tre is close to the mainland (a distance of 30km from the road. sea), when fresh water from the mainland pours into the sea and combines with dead water hyacinth, bacteria, and toxic algae, oysters, green mussels, and farmed fish will be affected leading to loss.
“The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Kien Hai district will check the number of dead fish and oysters and take samples to check for specific causes and guide farmers to reduce risks. In the immediate future, tomorrow, February 18, Kien Giang Aquaculture Sub-Department will send professional staff to Hon Tre commune to coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Kien Hai district to carry out inspection steps. and find solutions,” said Mr. Dang Tung Long.