Four months have passed since Formosa Ha Tinh "poisoned" the central sea, but many fishermen are still unable to put down their oars.
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| Ba Dong fishing port (Ky Loi commune, Ky Anh town, Ha Tinh) is at the center of the marine environmental incident. At the end of August, hundreds of boats were still lying on the shore, exposed to the rain and sun. Having not been out at sea for a long time, fishermen covered their boats with blankets, but the sun and wind had torn the covers to pieces. About 2 km away, the chimney of the Formosa factory was operating regularly. |
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| After 4 months of being on shore, the anchors were rusted. Some fishermen said that because the boats had not been started for a long time, most of them were damaged. When they resumed fishing, the estimated cost of repairs would be tens of millions of dong. |
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| In the new school year, many fishermen are worried about the amount of money they can contribute to their children because their family income has decreased significantly since the marine environmental incident. Mr. Phan Duy Vinh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ky Anh town (Ha Tinh) said that the whole town has 54 villages affected by the incident caused by Formosa. |
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| Fisherman Phan Van Son said that, unable to go to sea, his family had to switch to raising pigs and trading to make a living. |
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| On August 22, the Ministry of Natural Resources announced that the seawater "meets standards", many fishermen in Quang Tri are busy repairing their coracles that have rotted due to being on the shore for a long time. |
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| Mr. Son (Gio Linh district, Quang Tri) and his son brought the 90CV bamboo boat ashore for repair, waiting for the new fishing season. "Hopefully by the end of the 8th lunar month, there will be fish in the sea again so that we fishermen can go out to sea" - he shared. |
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| In Bac Hai village (Ky Ha commune, Ky Anh town), many salt fields have been abandoned since April. Mr. Nguyen Duc Viet (46 years old) said that the salt produced cannot be sold because consumers believe that salt is also contaminated with seawater. Currently, the commune has about 70 hectares of salt production temporarily abandoned. |
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| Cua Viet beach was deserted on a late August morning. The number of tourists coming to Quang Tri dropped to 1/10 compared to the same period in 2015. Room occupancy rates at coastal tourist areas were only 10-15%. |
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| The capacity of fish steaming furnaces in Gio Hai commune and Cua Viet town (Gio Linh district) has decreased to one-third of the previous capacity. Many furnaces are out of work, and the fish drying areas are empty. |
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| Thach Kim fish market (Cua Sot Port, Thach Kim Commune, Loc Ha District, Ha Tinh) is located about 100 km from the Formosa factory. This is one of the largest wholesale fish markets in Ha Tinh. At the time of the environmental incident, Thach Kim fish market was deserted, but now the market has started operating again. |
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| Mr. Dinh Ngoc Hung, Chief of Police of Thach Kim Commune, said that the amount of fish caught has decreased compared to before, and the price of seafood "shows signs of increasing". For example, each kilogram of orange fish used to be about 40,000 VND, but now it has increased to 45,000 VND. |
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| The fish market is more crowded than in April and May, however many traders said they are still cautious in purchasing, waiting for the Ministry of Health's official announcement on the safety of sea fish. |
According to VNE
