Protecting aquatic products in the rainy season

Aquaculture farmers need to proactively implement effective measures to protect aquaculture products during the rainy season.

The erratic weather during the rainy season causes fluctuations in the living environment, allowing pathogens to spread and invade, making it difficult for aquatic products to grow and develop. Therefore, the agricultural sector, in coordination with localities and people, has proposed many measures to prevent, combat and overcome risks, ensuring safety for aquatic product farming areas.

According to the agricultural sector, the weather during storms often has sudden changes in temperature, humidity, and rainfall, which are favorable conditions for pathogens to develop. Meanwhile, in the rainy season, TS will have weaker resistance, so pathogens have more opportunities to penetrate TS and cause disease. Many fish farmers said that, in the face of sudden changes in the environment, especially in the rainy season, the most important step is to know how to adjust the water environment for the pond, need to implement good technical measures, and have a reasonable stocking density.

With 20 fish cages, Mr. Nguyen Quang Hoanh (An Binh commune, Long Ho district) said: “Usually in the rainy season, fish have weaker resistance, are susceptible to parasitic and fungal diseases, and have a higher loss rate. Accordingly, red tilapia often suffers a loss of 20-30%, due to turbid water, mud, and silt sticking to the fish gills, making the fish susceptible to disease. This year, the water is pouring in faster and stronger than every year, and this is also the peak of the rainy season, so I have proactively reinforced the anchor posts, bought more ropes to tie the fish cages and put nets around the cages so that the fish do not jump out when the water rises.”

With nearly 10 years of experience in fish farming, Mr. Tran Trung Tan (Binh Hoa Phuoc commune, Long Ho district) said: “During the rainy season, the environmental factors of the pond can change suddenly, causing shock to the fish, making it easy for diseases to arise. Therefore, I regularly monitor the water environment, check the fish's activities, observe to adjust the amount of food, and supplement vitamins and minerals to increase the fish's resistance. In addition, I also proactively prepare necessary materials such as nets, water pumps, and generators to promptly handle incidents that occur during the rainy season.”

Mr. Ta Van Thao - Deputy Head of the Department of Animal Husbandry, Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries, said: To protect fish during the rainy and stormy season, the Department has instructed people on measures to protect fish farming areas. In particular, it is necessary to strengthen propaganda and dissemination of knowledge on natural disaster prevention and control on mass media and organize well training on natural disaster prevention and control. For localities with fish farming areas in river cages, it is necessary to instruct farmers to check and reinforce the system of anchors and buoys and proactively move the cages to a safe location with favorable environmental conditions when there is heavy rain and strong wind.

Recently, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine and TS has also recommended that breeding facilities should choose large, healthy breeds to limit losses. At the same time, it is necessary to properly anchor cages, regularly check anchors, nets, etc. to proactively prevent and avoid damage caused by natural disasters. Accordingly, from the beginning of the rainy season, localities with TS farming areas in the province have actively implemented measures to protect farmed animals to minimize damage caused by the weather.

According to the recommendations of the authorities, during the rainy season, for fish ponds, farmers need to check and repair the dykes to ensure that they can retain water. It is necessary to clear branches and trees around the banks to avoid branches and leaves falling into the pond, polluting the pond, and to prevent strong winds causing trees to fall and break the dykes, causing fish loss. Install overflow pipes to drain water when the water in the pond is too high, or actively drain the water in the pond, to prevent water from overflowing the banks and all the fish will follow.

Prepare tools to reinforce and repair the dike and culvert systems when bad situations occur. When floods occur, it is necessary to check the water quality in the pond to have appropriate adjustment measures such as: liming to stabilize the environment, adjusting the water color, or changing the water when necessary. After each water change, the farmer must treat the water. At the same time, add minerals and vitamins to increase the resistance of farmed fish.

For households raising cages and rafts on the river, it is necessary to check and reinforce the cages, the mooring system, the cage buoys, and clean and ventilate the cages to allow water to circulate quickly. In places with strong currents, use panels or tarpaulins to cover the front of the cages to prevent the current from flowing directly onto the farmed fish.

In addition, it is necessary to use disinfectants suspended in cages and rafts to disinfect the water environment, kill pathogens for farmed fish; limit feeding during storms to limit environmental pollution and avoid waste. At the same time, farmers need to closely monitor weather developments regarding flood levels on rivers and storms on the mass media to proactively prevent and combat, in order to effectively protect farmed fish.

According to the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine (under the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development), the province currently has 1,646 cages and rafts (an increase of 25 over the same period) with 207 farming facilities. Of these, 1,249 are being farmed, an increase of 53, and 397 have not been restocked. The estimated output for the first 6 months is nearly 8,300 tons, reaching 46% of the yearly plan, down 1.9%, down 161 tons over the same period. Cage farming areas are concentrated in Long Ho district and Vinh Long city. Currently, many cage farming facilities have switched to farming other valuable species (catfish, grass carp, scad, striped carp, elephant ear, etc.) to increase production value and minimize risks in production.

Article and photos: NGUYEN KHANG

Source: https://baovinhlong.vn/kinh-te/202408/bao-ve-thuy-san-mua-mua-3186053/