Illegal oyster farming, encroaching on the riverbed in the coastal area of ​​Quynh Luu

Coming to Tan An village, An Hoa commune (Quynh Luu), standing on Quynh Nghia bridge looking downMai Giang RiverHundreds of oyster rafts can be observed densely placed on the water surface.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tung - a resident of An Hoa commune said that oyster farming has existed for a long time. At first, people raised oysters on a small scale, about 5-10 households, but from around 2010 until now, the scale and number of households have increased significantly.

Oyster farming in recent years has helped people in this area have an additional source of income, but households have unintentionally encroached on waterways, obstructing the flow, causing environmental pollution, especially causing difficulties for fishing boats and ships of fishermen when entering and leaving the port to anchor.

Observations along the rivers bordering the estuary in Tan An village (An Hoa commune) show that people use many items to make rafts and plant stakes.oyster farmingIn addition, after harvesting, oyster shells are strung together by people and then dropped into the riverbed at a dense density.

Mr. To Duy Hien - Chairman of the People's Committee of Quynh Nghia commune said that the whole commune currently has about 90 offshore fishing vessels and boats. During the rainy and stormy season, not only local vessels and boats but also many vessels of fishermen from neighboring communes also seek shelter. Due to obstruction from oyster rafts on the river, many vessels and boats have difficulty moving. In the past, voters as well as local authorities have petitioned superiors for solutions to direct handling, but the situation of oyster farming on the river still occurs.

According to research, the whole An Hoa commune currently has about 51 households raising oysters on the rivers, of which the most concentrated farming is in Tan An village. Oyster farming helps people have more income, so many other households have brought stakes to the riverbed to enclose the area, gradually occupying the entire riverbed.

To deal with this problem, recently, An Hoa commune has directed forces to focus on inspection, propaganda, organizing the signing of commitments and requesting households to voluntarily dismantle rafts and oyster farming poles. However, after a period of handling, the households continued to repeat the problem.

Mr. Ho Anh Dung - Chairman of An Hoa Commune People's Committee said: In response to many opinions and recommendations from voters at meetings with People's Council delegates at all levels related to this issue, the locality is actively informing and propagating to oyster farming households to reduce the area on rivers; transfer and expand to other farming areas to clear the flow, not hindering ships and boats from entering and leaving the shore to anchor and avoid storms; directing people to change suitable occupations to stabilize production.

According to Article 8, Decree 132/2015/ND-CP dated December 25, 2015, stipulating administrative sanctions for violations in the field of inland waterway traffic, the above spontaneous act of putting up bamboo poles and concrete pillars in the middle of the riverbed by people can be administratively sanctioned in the form of a fine, depending on the case, up to 10 million VND for the act of placing tools, leaving means of exploitation, aquaculture, seafood not in accordance with the instructions of the inland waterway management unit. At the same time, violators are also subject to remedial measures such as being forced to dismantle and relocate means of aquaculture, seafood.