Aquaculture farmers in Dong Minh commune, Thai Binh province, collect dead oysters. (Photo: VNA) Thai Binh (VNA) - Massive oysterdeaths in Tien Hai district, the northern province of Thai Binh, in recent dayshave devastated local farmers.
Oysterraising is the main source of income for farmers in Tien Hai’s Dong Minhcommune. About 285 households in the locality raise oyster on nearly 450ha ofland.
Accordingto Vu Trung Tien, vice chairman of Dong Minh commune’s People’s Committee,oysters began to die en mass on August 7. By now, an estimated 70 percent ofbreeding oysters on 230ha have died, while the rate was 20-30 percent ofcommercial oysters raised on the remaining over 200 ha.
Totaleconomic loss was estimated at 60 billion VND (nearly 2.6 million USD).
Nam Thinh communereported a death rate of 70 percent on 30ha of oyster farming, while the ratesranged from 20-30 percent on another 100ha.
According to TranMinh Tien, vice chairman of Tien Hai district People’s Committee, there are 1,900ha ofoysters raised across aqua farms in the district, of which 1,500ha are inthe two communes.
Local farmers alsoface the problem of collecting the big volume of dead oysters and treating the environment.
The provincialfisheries sub-department has taken samples of dead oysters for test to find thecause of death, said Pham Van Vang, head of Tien Hai Ddistrict's AgricultureOffice.
According to him,oysters could have died due to hot weather in recent days and notnecessarily due to pollution.
The number of deathsincreases every day because households can't collect the dead oysters quicklyenough to avoid polluting breeding areas.
The sub-departmentsaid households should remove all dead oysters from breeding areas as fast aspossible to save the remaining and prepare for the next crop.- VNA
