Hundreds of fish breeders along the edges of Tam Giang Lagoon have been watching their fish die off en masse due to heat and pollution in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue city over the last few weeks.

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A farmer in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue examines a dead fish found in his Quang Dien District pond.

At Dang Phuoc Chut’s five fish ponds in Quang Phuoc Commune of Quang Dien District, groups of dead fish floating at the surface of the water are now emitting a foul smell.

Chut said the deaths had cost him over VND70 million (US$3,684).

Fish breeding is the main livelihood of hundreds of the commune’s households. Many fish bred in about 100 out of 170 local fish ponds have died, leaving farmers to accumulate debt upon debt.

The worst damages occurred in Mai Duong, Phuoc Lam and Phuoc Ly hamlets.

The hot and muggy weather has also coupled with diseases to kill a slew of shrimp bred in the province. As of now, shrimps bred on nearly 2,000 hectares of farms have died to ineffectual breeding methods.

In addition, several vegetable crop fields have yellowed and withered in the heat, putting over 1,200 Quang Dien District households in financial straits.

The district provides the market an average of 2,000 tons of fresh vegetables annually.

Farmer Nguyen Chinh said farmers have been forced to water their vegetables fields at 3am, when the electricity is not cut off, in the desperate hope of saving their crops.

Source: Saigon giai phong