Van Lach silts, Dien Chau fishermen 'half-crying, half-laughing'

Fishermen worry about ships running aground

At Lach Van fishing port (Dien Chau) these days, fishermen's fishing boats are still bustling in and out. However, the problem that makes fishermen uneasy and worried is that the channel is silted up, boats can easily run aground, especially at low tide.

Fisherman Bui Van Giang said that every time a boat returns to the fishing port, the pilot must be careful to steer the boat in the right direction, otherwise the boat will run aground immediately. There have been boats worth hundreds of millions of dong that have run aground, not only damaging the boat and property but also costing money to rescue.

In fact, a few years ago, hundreds of people from Dien Bich commune, along with many excavators, pumps and many other rudimentary tools, gathered to "rescue" a stranded fishing boat at Lach Van estuary. After 2 days of salvage efforts, the boat was successfully "rescued". However, the boat owner had to spend hundreds of millions of dong to rent excavators and provide on-site logistics, not to mention the boat had to be taken to a repair shop, which cost another amount of money.

Mr. Le The Hieu - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dien Chau district said: Lach Van estuary is the entrance and exit point of hundreds of ships of Dien Chau district. Because the estuary is silted, only a few small boats dock every day and the amount of seafood caught is not of high value. Because of the estuary silting, every year there are fishing boats and ships that run aground, causing damage to fishermen's property. Therefore, large fishing boats of Dien Chau have to go to other places to dock.

“The silting up of Lach Van estuary has been happening for a long time, although the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has organized dredging many times, but after a short time, “everything goes back to the way it was”. The estuary is silted up, which is also the reason why Dien Chau fishermen have not dared to invest in building big boats with big engines for a long time.

What is the fundamental solution?

To develop the marine economy, upgrading fishing ports and dredging estuaries is essential. Because when the estuary is widened and dredged, large ships and large engines can operate, and thus we can protect aquatic resources and increase the value of the fisheries industry. In recent years, Nghe An has implemented upgrading a number of fishing ports, creating favorable conditions for fishing vessels to enter and anchor. However, with Lach Van estuary, due to the lack of a fundamental solution, the sedimentation situation still recurs.

Talking to us, Mr. Tran Xuan Hoc - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said: The situation of Lach Van estuary being frequently silted is due to the amount of silt blown in by the Northeast monsoon wind. If there is no solution to prevent silt, dredging will still not be effective. Therefore, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is currently submitting a plan to dredge Lach Van from the World Bank loan. Accordingly, along with dredging, two solid embankments will be built outside the estuary to prevent silt. This is the fundamental solution to prevent silt sedimentation at Lach Van estuary.

“Previously, the Irrigation Department had dredged Lach Van several times, but due to limited funding and no solution to prevent silt, it silted up again after only a few years. This is an obstacle for fishermen when returning their boats to port after each trip,” said Mr. Tran Xuan Hoc.

The current situation of sedimentation at Lach Van estuary shows that the infrastructure of fishing ports and wharves cannot meet the demand, making it difficult to invest in fishing logistics services. If there is no solution for dredging and building infrastructure at the estuaries, the programs of building large ships and large engines to go offshore will be difficult to implement. Meanwhile, the trend of marine economic development is to go offshore to exploit the potential and protect coastal resources...