Tri An Lake is dry: Fishermen are in trouble

With an area of 32 thousand hectares, Tri An Lake is where thousands of households earn their living by raising fish in rafts and fishing. Recently, the water level of Tri An Lake has dried up, causing great difficulties for aquaculture activities on the lake.

Tri An Lake's bottom is dry. Photo: B.Nguyen

The fact that Tri An Lake is dry and the semi-flooded area is quite large also causes many consequences in the management and protection of aquatic resources on the lake.

* Loss of income

According to Tri An Hydropower Company (Vinh Cuu District), the water level of Tri An Lake on May 12 was measured at 51m, while the normal water level of the lake is 62m. This is the lowest water level measured at Tri An Lake in over 10 years.

During the rainy season, Tri An Lake is filled with water. But now, the water has receded so much that the entire lake bed has dried up, leaving the bottom exposed. The remaining water is concentrated in small rivers and streams. This situation directly affects the lives of fishermen on the lake.

Mr. Nguyen Van Nghia, a fisherman on Tri An Lake, shared that there has never been a year when the lake water level has been as low as this year. In recent years, the aquatic resources in Tri An Lake have decreased significantly compared to before. In the dry season of previous years, the water surface area is still large, and fishermen still have a source of income. But this year, the water level on the lake surface has receded deeply, the fish source is gone, so the life of fishermen on Tri An Lake has encountered many difficulties, because there is almost no income.

Sharing the same concern, Ms. Luong Thi Xuan, a fish farmer in Ma Da commune (Vinh Cuu district), said that in the past 2 months, the lake water level has receded, which is the main reason why her family's fish fry have gradually died. Every year, after Tet, the fish fry have been released in the rafts, and thanks to the abundant water source, there has not been a mass fish death like now.

Sharing more about the difficulties, Ms. Le Thi Phien, a fish farmer in Ma Da commune (Vinh Cuu district) said that since after Tet, all the batches of fish her family released have suffered losses due to the deep water level, affecting the fish's living environment. Many fish farmers in this area are in debt because the batch of fish they just released was lost; they also do not dare to think about releasing a new batch of fish because they are worried about continuing to suffer losses.

* Anxious waiting for new crop

In the dry season every year, until the end of April, the water source in Tri An reservoir is still abundant, so the release of new fish fry by fish farming households is maintained. But in the dry season this year, since 2 months ago, almost no fish farming rafts in the La Nga bridge area (Dinh Quan district) dare to release new fish fry, because the water surface area has almost completely shrunk.

Fishermen fishing in Tri An Lake worry about losing income as Tri An Lake dries up

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Khiem, Head of the Phu Ngoc Fish Farming Cooperative (Phu Ngoc Commune, Dinh Quan District), during the recent peak heat waves, the water surface of the river in the La Nga bridge area was drained, causing many difficulties for households raising fish in the area. In recent days, due to some heavy rains, the water level in the lake has increased, but with the current situation of dry lake water, it will take a few more months for the water source to stabilize to release a new batch of fish. It is predicted that this year's fish farmers will miss a crop, greatly affecting their income.

Regarding the situation of fish farming in the locality, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dinh Quan District Nguyen Truong Giang said that before the peak of the dry season, fish farms in the La Nga bridge area proactively harvested and sold to traders earlier than every year to avoid the risk of fish dying. Currently, hundreds of households raising fish in cages in the La Nga river area have moved to farming areas according to the planning. In the La Nga bridge area, there are only households living on rafts for fishing; the remaining households raising fish in cages do not release fish fry because of the shallow water. The fish farms with fish ready for harvest have all moved to deep water areas, and the fish farms are also arranged with a lower density according to new regulations, so the farmed fish have not been affected. The locality has urged households raising fish in cages not to continue releasing fish fry during the current transitional season.

Head of the Forest Protection Department of Dong Nai Nature and Culture Reserve Nguyen Van Phuoc commented that this year the water level of Tri An Lake is lower than in previous years. The current long period of water receding has caused difficulties for households raising fish in cages. The characteristics of Tri An Lake include shallow beaches and narrow areas, and those using prohibited fishing gear have also taken advantage of this situation to sneak in and fish in an destructive manner. This has caused many difficulties in the work of protecting the lake of the Reserve in recent times.

According to the Head of the Forest Protection Department of Dong Nai Nature and Culture Reserve NGUYEN VAN PHUOC, the fact that Tri An Lake is dry, the semi-flooded area is quite large, attracting people from other places to organize camping also causes difficulties in managing people in the Reserve. This spontaneous entertainment also has many potential risks such as drowning accidents, waste discharge causing environmental pollution.

Binh Nguyen

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