Destroying aquatic life with hexagonal nets.

(Baonghean.vn) - Recently, many households have been using hexagonal nets to catch aquatic life in canals and ditches in rice fields, depleting aquatic resources.

Following Mr. Le Quang Hong from Hamlet 5, Quang Son Commune, Do Luong District, Nghe An Province – an experienced fisherman using octagonal nets – we gained a better understanding of how this type of net is used. Octagonal nets cost between 200,000 and 240,000 VND per net, are about 8 meters long, and each mesh has a small hole for aquatic creatures to enter. However, the entrance is offset so that prey can easily enter but difficult to get out. To lure prey in, people often use rice bran, roasted until fragrant and tied into many small balls, which are then placed in the net.

Each cart loaded with hexagonal cages was used to cast the nets.

Around 5 PM, these people would cast their nets in the ditches and canals in the rice fields, and at 4 AM the next morning, they would retrieve the nets along with their catch to sell. Along the canals and ditches, a hexagonal net was placed every 5 meters. To prevent theft, Hong and many others brought tents, tarpaulins, blankets, and mats to sleep overnight right where they placed the nets to guard against thieves.

Mr. Le Quang Hong from Hamlet 5, Quang Son (Do Luong) casts his net in the canal.

Like Mr. Le Quang Hong, Mr. Le Quang Tri has also been fishing for a few years now. According to Mr. Tri, he can earn between 500,000 and 1 million VND per night from fishing with a hexagonal net. He simply casts the net at night, and all kinds of seafood such as shrimp, fish, crabs, frogs, snakes, eels, etc., are drawn in. When he collects them, traders come directly to his house to buy all of them.

The octagonal fishing net costs between 200,000 and 240,000 VND per piece, is about 8 meters long, and has a small hole in each mesh opening, making it easy for aquatic creatures to enter but difficult to get out.

These types of food are generally considered clean and therefore very popular: crab is currently sold at 70-80 thousand VND/kg; eel at 80 thousand VND/kg; snake at 10 thousand VND/kg...

To promptly prevent destructive fishing practices, on November 5, 2013, the People's Committee of Nghe An province issued Directive No. 31 on strengthening the management of fishing activities in the coastal waters of Nghe An province. This directive strictly prohibits organizations and individuals from using trawl nets with attached harrows, trawl nets with attached harrows for harvesting clams, oysters, and snails; and trawl nets with traps for harvesting aquatic species in the coastal waters of Nghe An province.

The nets were brought home and the harvested seafood was sorted.

However, currently, people are still not fully aware of the regulations, and there are many cases of violations, even an increasing trend. In Hamlet 5, Quang Son Commune, Do Luong District, in 2015 only 3 households used octagonal nets, but by 2016, there were 16 households engaged in this profession.

Driven by the need to earn a living, many people still disregard regulations and use illegal fishing nets to decimate aquatic life.

To prevent the daily depletion of aquatic resources, we urge the authorities to take prompt action and severely punish violations.

Thuy Hang