Dead fish litter the sea, fishermen hang up their nets.

The fishing trip was scheduled to last two more days, but after hearing from family members that the fish were dying and prices had plummeted, Mr. Loc (Cua Tung, Quang Tri) had no choice but to pull in his nets and return home.

Mr. Hung's nearly 10kg of fish couldn't be sold, so he had to bring it home to eat gradually. Photo: Hoang Tao

On the morning of April 21st, dozens of fishing boats and small fishing vessels bustled about at Cua Tung fishing port (Vinh Linh, Quang Tri). The atmosphere was deserted, as if it were the rainy season. On the seaward side, a long line of fishing boats stretched towards the shore.

Fisherman Nguyen Van Loc (from Cua Tung town) just returned to shore with a small catch of grouper, snapper, barramundi, and other fish... With a sad expression, Mr. Loc said that his fishing trip to Con Co Island was expected to last 5 days, but he had to return to shore 2 days earlier.

“Yesterday, my family called to say that the fish were dying, so the price dropped and no one was buying, so we had to pull the nets back to shore,” Mr. Loc said. With his 12CV boat, Mr. Loc and his crew choose the Con Co sea area to fish. Each trip, lasting 5-6 days, brings them an income of 5-20 million VND.

Faced with the fish deaths, Mr. Loc had to...They took a break from fishing for a few days, "waiting for things to calm down and for more information before returning to sea."Mrs. Loc added that the price of exported fish has dropped by half, while no one is buying fish at the market. "Now, even specialty fish are being sold for dirt cheap, like regular fish," she said.

Carrying nearly ten kilograms of fish ashore, fisherman Le Van Hung said that his wife usually sells these fish at the market, but since no one was buying them today, they brought them home to eat. "I don't know what to do with all this, but I'll just bring them home," Mr. Hung said.

Normally, Mr. Hung goes out to sea in his small boat at dawn. He casts his nets the day before, retrieves them, and returns around 9-10 am. Now, with no one buying the fish, he has to gather his nets and put down his oars for a break.

Many fishermen pulled their nets ashore, taking a break to wait for the "fish kill" disaster to pass. Photo: Hoang Tao

The area where the fish died is located about 2-3 km from the shore, at a depth of 20 meters. "Normally, the water in this area is crystal clear, but in the last few days it has looked darker and the water seems strange," Mr. Loc informed, adding that his fishing grounds are far offshore and there has been no fish kill phenomenon, but he has also suffered the same fate.

Some fishermen say that many species of fish, such as barracuda and snapper, which normally live at the bottom and are difficult to catch, are now abundant in nets because they swim up to the rocky reefs.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Phu, Chairman of the People's Committee of Cua Tung town, the information about the unexplained fish deaths has greatly affected the lives of fishermen. Many fishing boats operating in areas without dead fish are unable to sell their catch. Those who went out to sea in recent days have all returned to shore with their nets.

In Ky Anh town (Ha Tinh province), where the first fish deaths were discovered in early April, many fishermen are also struggling.Mr. Dau Thanh Tam (residing in Ba Don village, Ky Loi commune) said that his family does not own any rice fields and only knows how to make a living by fishing. For the past three weeks, the fishermen have been very worried because they cannot sell their catch.

"I fish about 8 nautical miles from the coast, and on average, each trip brings in about 4-5 million VND from selling fish and seafood. However, on recent trips, no one buys my catch. People say they're scared because they've seen dead fish in many provinces," Tâm said.

Seafood farmers and traders face the risk of losses.

The unexplained fish deaths have left fish farmers in Lang Co town (Thua Thien - Hue province) extremely worried.HLooking towards the fish cages at sea, Mr. Tran Tan (45 years old) said that a few days ago, when feeding the fish, he discovered that many species such as grouper, snapper, red snapper, and sea bass had died en masse.

According to Mr. Tan, in An Cu Dong village and the Lap An area, approximately 100 fish cages belonging to 60 households have experienced fish deaths."For over 20 years, we haven't seen anything like this. We took the fish to the market but no one bought them, so we had to throw them away," Mr. Tan said, adding that his family's losses from the dead fish cages are estimated at 50 million VND.

Nearby, Mr. Bui Van Vu (40 years old) invested tens of millions of dong to raise various fish species with high commercial value. "However, in just one morning, all 2,000 grouper, snapper, and other fish in his four cages, which were almost ready for harvest, died," Mr. Vu lamented.

In Ky Anh town (Ha Tinh province), the carAccording to Phan Duy Vinh, Vice Chairman of Ky Anh town, in communes such as Ky Loi, Ky Ha, and Ky Ninh, over the past few weeks, a large number of fish raised in cages at sea have died, reaching more than 37,000, with an initial estimated loss of 1.5 billion VND.

Besides their work as fishermen, more than 20 households in Dong Yen village (Ky Loi commune, Ha Tinh province), residing in the Ky Phuong ward resettlement area, invested hundreds of millions of dong to open seafood businesses. However, in recent days, mass fish deaths have washed ashore, causing people to turn away and leaving the businesses deserted.

"Since the fish kill incident, the number of customers coming to the restaurant has dropped significantly. Occasionally, a few people drop by, and even they are very cautious about eating," said a seafood business owner in Ky Phuong ward, adding that the restaurant had only recently opened but hadn't recovered much of its capital yet, and now it was facing losses.

Residents of the Ky Phuong resettlement area (Ky Anh town) moor their boats and stand in shops looking out at the sea, lamenting that they will face debt if the fish kill continues. Photo: Duc Hung

Around the market area in Ky Phuong ward, people are very hesitant to buy fish, mostly choosing other types of food. Some, partly out of tiếc of wasting time and money, and wanting to recoup some costs, have taken the fish to the town center or other areas to sell at a cheaper price, but they all have to bring the fish back because everyone believes the fish is contaminated and eating it is dangerous.

Following this phenomenon, many residents have petitioned that the discharge of wastewater into the sea by the thermal power plant at the Formosa construction site (Vung Ang Economic Zone) is the cause of the fish deaths. However, in response...VnExpressA Formosa executive argued that the fish deaths were unrelated to the company because the thermal power plant was not yet operational.

"We have collected wastewater, fish, and seawater samples for testing and evaluation. In addition, the provincial environmental police have also launched an inspection of all drainage systems in the area," he said.Phan Duy Vinh, Vice Chairman of Ky Anh townThey said and argued that it is necessary to quickly find out the cause in order to come up with solutions to end the fish deaths, avoiding further consequences and preventing panic among the people.

The initial fish kill was recorded in offshore fish cages near the Vung Ang economic zone (Ky Anh town, Ha Tinh province) in early April. Subsequently, wild marine fish, farmed fish in cages, and fish in coastal lakes of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien Hue provinces died en masse. Every day, fishermen collected tons of dead fish, each weighing from a few hundred grams to 50 kg.

The Institute of Aquaculture Research I (Northern Center for Environmental Monitoring and Aquatic Animal Diseases) conducted water environment and pathogen testing, concluding that common factors and toxic gases from organic decomposition were not the cause of the fish deaths.

The Quang Binh Department of Agriculture concluded that the fish died due to "toxic elements in the water," but the specific toxic substance has not yet been identified.

Today and tomorrow, a delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will be working in provinces from Ha Tinh to Thua Thien Hue to inspect the mass fish deaths.

According to VNE