Thua Thien-Hue’s aquaculture, fishing activities expanded

Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) – The central province of Thua Thien-Hue has seen recovery and development of the fishery sector after more than one year of the maritime environment incident.

In the first six months of 2017, the province’s seafood catching fetched nearly 19,000 tonnes, a rise of 25.5 percent year on year, while aquatic farming production reached 5,393 tonnes, up 4.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the total processed aquatic output so far this year hit nearly 3,250 tonnes.

Along with paying compensation for locals affected by the incident caused by Formosa that resulted in mass fish death in four central localities, the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has also rolled out measures to recover production and switch their livelihood.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee of Phu Vang district Ho Viet Nhuan said that aquaculture and fishing activities in the district have been resumed and expanded. The district has instructed locals to utilise the compensation to stablise their livelihood, he said.

As many as 39,870 locals in Thua Thien-Hue are compensation receivers, with the highest number of 7,396 people in Phu Vang district. So far, 894.3 billion VND (39.3 million USD) out of total compensation sum of 950.5 billion VND (41.8 million USD) has been paid.

The mass fish deaths were first reported on April 6, 2016 when a large number of fish washed ashore in Ha Tinh province. It was also spotted in Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue provinces.

About 70 tonnes of dead fish were found in the four provinces and Thua Thien-Hue alone reported 35 tonnes of farm-raised fish had died. The pollution also affected more than 260,000 people who earn their living from the sea.

In late June 2016, Taiwanese-invested Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Limited Company admitted responsibility for the incident and pledged 11.5 trillion VND (500 million USD) in compensation.-VNA