Ha Tinh farmers urgently protect farmed aquatic products from storm No. 5

(Baohatinh.vn) - To cope with storm No. 5, Ha Tinh farmers have proactively taken measures to reinforce cages, ponds, and protect aquaculture areas to avoid damage.

In response to forecasts of strong and complex storm No. 5, aquaculture households in Ha Tinh have urgently taken measures to reinforce and protect ponds and cages to limit damage caused by storms and rain.

Having raised fish in cages in the area below Do Diem bara on Nghen river for more than 15 years, Mr. Nguyen Van Binh (Song Hai village, Thach Ha commune) always feels worried whenever he hears about storms. So when he heard about storm No. 5, he quickly prepared response plans to protect his family's fish cages.

Mr. Nguyen Van Binh said: “Since the morning of August 23, when I watched the weather information about the development of storm No. 5, I bought ropes to tie the cages tightly, fixed the rafts with stakes, checked and repaired the nets to prevent fish from drifting away when the water level rises. Currently, my raft has nearly 700 sea bass weighing nearly 2 kg each. To ensure the safest possible situation, while the storm has not yet arrived, I have to continuously check the raft system to see if there are any areas that need repair.”

Not far from Mr. Binh's raft, Mr. Nguyen Huu Nhan (Song Hai village) also quickly pulled the rope to tie the cage to protect his family's property, which is a school of nearly 600 fish: "This school of fish has been raised for about 1.5 years, weighing 1.5 - 2 kg/fish. Following the weather forecast, I saw that this was a strong storm, so I reinforced the anchor system, cage buoys, handled weak points that were at risk of being swept away by the wind, and tied more ropes to keep the cage from drifting. Along with reinforcing the cage, I also took the opportunity to check and repair boats to serve the travel needs."

It is known that the entire Song Hai village (Thach Ha commune) currently has nearly 30 households raising sea bass in cages with a total quantity of about 7,000 fish. Mr. Nguyen Van Duc - Head of Song Hai village said: "Before the forecast of strong storm No. 5, we have informed the aquaculture farmers to proactively take measures to protect their property and minimize damage. Currently, people's near-shore fishing boats have been anchored, and the cages have been carefully secured and reinforced. We will continue to guide people to monitor and update weather forecasts regularly to proactively handle situations that may arise in the coming days."

In Hai Ninh ward, along with reinforcing and protecting cages, households also took advantage of early harvesting of farmed aquatic products that had reached their weight to minimize damage when the storm hit. Mr. Pham Xuan Hao - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Hai Ninh ward said: "The local government has inspected and reviewed the entire shrimp and fish farming area and propagated and instructed households to harvest early, implement measures to cross-tie and reinforce ponds and move cages to safe areas. Up to now, about 70% of the people's farmed aquatic products have been harvested."

Not only are fish cage farmers struggling to cope with storm No. 5, shrimp farmers in localities across the province are also urgently taking measures to protect shrimp from the effects of heavy rain when the storm arrives.

According to farmers, the acid content in rainwater is high, salinity and pH in water will suddenly decrease during heavy rains. If there are no timely treatment measures, it will lead to the risk of shrimp being shocked by the water environment and susceptible to disease. Therefore, in addition to reinforcing the dykes and ponds, ensuring the water environment and nutrition for shrimp is very important.



Mr. Cao Huu Nghi (Co Dam commune) said: “ With a scale of 4 ponds, we just released more than 1 million white-leg shrimp fry 1 month ago. Following the storm developments, we have prepared materials to be ready to respond to unusual incidents caused by storms. We have now reinforced the pond banks, added minerals and vitamins to increase shrimp resistance, removed tarpaulins to avoid strong winds, run water fans, continuously aerate, treat water and install a surface water discharge system to reduce the amount of rainwater in the pond, in case of heavy rain”.

According to the Ha Tinh Fisheries Department, the total aquaculture area in the province is currently nearly 5,300 hectares, of which freshwater aquaculture is more than 2,800 hectares and brackish water aquaculture is nearly 2,300 hectares, including 162 cages and more than 1,500 hectares of shrimp. Unharvested output is estimated at about 7,000 tons.

Before the storms, the unit has instructed farmers to have a plan to harvest aquaculture products that have reached commercial size to limit losses when storms occur. At the same time, check and reinforce the pond banks to be strong and resistant to heavy rain and floods; reinforce the mooring system, cage buoys and move the cages to sheltered areas with gentle currents to avoid storms causing damage to the cages; clear tree branches around the banks to avoid storms causing branches and leaves to fall into the ponds, causing pollution; install overflow pipes to drain water when the rain and floods last long and when the water level in the pond is too high; cover the surface of the cages with nets to reduce aquatic product losses when natural disasters occur; prepare well in terms of food, chemicals, and biological products to care for and protect aquaculture products...

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai Thuy - Head of Aquaculture Management Department (Ha Tinh Fisheries Sub-Department)

Source: https://baohatinh.vn/nong-dan-ha-tinh-khan-truong-bao-ve-thuy-san-nuoi-truoc-bao-so-5-post294259.html