American and German experts begin investigating cause of mass fish deaths

This morning (May 4), a source from the People's Committee of Ha Tinh province said that a team of experts and scientists from the US, Germany, and Israel arrived in Ha Tinh and began taking samples for research to find the cause of the recent mass fish deaths.

Previously, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment also took water and sediment samples in the Vung Ang sea area to test the heavy metal content in seawater.

Previously, at the invitation of the Vietnamese Government, scientists from Germany, the US, and Israel - who have experience in the fields of oceanography, coastal geology, coastal engineering, and sustainable environment, came to Vietnam to work with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to find the cause of mass fish deaths in four central provinces.

On May 2, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), Minister Tran Hong Ha and Deputy Minister Nguyen Linh Ngoc received and worked with scientists from Germany, the US, Israel and domestic scientists.

The Ministry of Science and Technology has officially established a National Council of Science and Technology Experts, chaired by Professor Chau Van Minh, President of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, to analyze and evaluate the causes of unusual birth deaths in four central provinces.

The Council consists of 03 interdisciplinary research groups, bringing together scientists from different agencies to continue to coordinate, compare analysis results and focus on research directions on chemical, biological, meteorological, hydrological and marine dynamics agents.

Establish a Council of Scientific Experts to investigate the cause of unusual seafood deaths in the Central region.

To analyze the cause of the unusual death of seafood in 4 central provinces, up to now, nearly 100 experts from more than 30 research institutes and universities in the country have participated in many different fields including: aquaculture, environment, marine geology and geophysics, chemistry, mechanics, space technology, food safety and hygiene inspection, petrochemicals, mineral exploitation,...

Experts have taken hundreds of samples for analysis since April 7, 2016, including: dead fish samples at sea, dead fish samples in cages, water samples, sediment samples, plankton, etc. to analyze toxins, aquatic diseases, the presence of toxic algae, water environment parameters; earthquake data from April 6, 2016 to analyze the presence of thermal shock and other effects caused by earthquakes; remote sensing data from April 1, 2016 to analyze water flow, temperature, chlorophylla content, and the presence of oil spills.

The samples were analyzed in laboratories with modern machinery systems of advanced countries in the world such as the US, Japan, and Switzerland. Scientists have objectively and comprehensively evaluated the different causes that could lead to the unusual death of seafood, initially excluding some causes from epidemics, oil spills, heat shock and other effects caused by earthquakes. The two causes being focused on analyzing, comparing results and evaluating include biological causes and chemical causes.

This morning (May 4), a team of international experts arrived in Ha Tinh, coordinating with local authorities to collect water and sediment samples from Ha Tinh's coastal areas to ensure independence and objectivity in assessing and finding the cause of the fish deaths.

According to Dan Tri