Lạch Vạn is silting up, leaving fishermen in Diễn Châu in a dilemma.
(Baonghean.vn) - The agricultural sector has repeatedly organized dredging of the Lach Van estuary (Dien Chau), but due to the lack of a fundamental solution to prevent sedimentation, the situation remains unchanged! Sedimentation at Lach Van has resulted in many fishing boats running aground or being damaged.
Fishermen fear their boat will run aground.
At Lach Van fishing port (Dien Chau) these days, fishing boats are still bustling in and out. However, the issue causing anxiety and worry among fishermen is the silting of the waterway, making boats prone to running aground, especially at low tide.
Fisherman Bui Van Giang expressed that whenever boats return to the fishing port, the helmsman must carefully steer the vessel to stay within the designated channel; carelessness can lead to the boat running aground. There have been instances where boats worth hundreds of millions of dong belonging to local fishermen have run aground, not only damaging the vessels and property but also incurring rescue costs.
In fact, a few years ago, hundreds of people from Dien Bich commune, along with excavators, pumps, and other rudimentary tools, gathered to "rescue" a fisherman's boat that had run aground at the mouth of Lach Van. It took two days of strenuous effort to successfully salvage the vessel. However, the boat owner had to spend hundreds of millions of dong renting excavators and providing on-site logistical support, not to mention the additional cost of repairs to the boat at a shipyard.
Mr. Le The Hieu, Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Dien Chau district, said: "Lach Van estuary is the entry and exit point for hundreds of boats from Dien Chau district. Because the estuary is silted up, only a few small boats dock there daily, and the value of the seafood caught is not high. Due to the silting of the estuary, every year some fishing boats run aground, causing damage to fishermen's property. Therefore, large fishing vessels from Dien Chau have to dock elsewhere."
"The silting of the Lach Van estuary has been a long-standing problem. Although the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has organized dredging efforts many times, the situation returns to its previous state after a short time. The silting of the estuary is also the reason why fishermen in Dien Chau have long been hesitant to invest in building large boats with powerful engines."
What is the fundamental solution?
To develop the marine economy, upgrading fishing ports and dredging estuaries are essential. When estuaries are widened and dredged to ensure smooth operation, larger vessels with powerful engines can operate, thus protecting marine resources and increasing the value of the fisheries sector. In recent years, Nghe An province has implemented upgrades to several fishing ports, facilitating the entry and docking of fishing vessels. However, due to the lack of fundamental solutions, sedimentation continues to recur at the Lach Van estuary.
In a conversation with us, Mr. Tran Xuan Hoc, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, stated that the frequent siltation at the Lach Van estuary is due to the large amount of sediment carried in by the Northeast monsoon winds. Without solutions to prevent siltation, even dredging will be ineffective. Therefore, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is currently submitting a plan to higher authorities to dredge the Lach Van estuary using funds borrowed from the World Bank. Accordingly, along with dredging, two sturdy embankment structures will be built outside the estuary to prevent siltation. This is the fundamental solution to prevent siltation at the Lach Van estuary.
“Previously, the Irrigation Department organized dredging of the Van Canal several times, but due to limited funding and the lack of solutions to prevent silt accumulation, it silted up again after only a few years. This is a major obstacle for fishermen when bringing their boats back to port after each fishing trip,” Mr. Tran Xuan Hoc shared.
The current situation of sedimentation at the Lach Van estuary shows that the infrastructure of fishing ports and wharves does not meet the needs, leading to difficulties in investing in fisheries logistics services. Without solutions for dredging and infrastructure development at the estuaries, programs to build large ships with powerful engines for offshore fishing will be difficult to implement. Meanwhile, the trend of marine economic development is to expand offshore, both to exploit potential and protect coastal resources...
