Raising cold water fish in flooded areas - "Gambling" with the sky

After the flood last September, all of Phan Dao Quay’s house, property and 20 tons of fish, worth 2.5 billion VND, were swept away. However, the farm with 12 tanks has just been restored by the family. After nearly a year, spending nearly 1 billion VND and a lot of effort, but the fish fry are both lacking and infected, so the restoration is still very difficult.

Fish farm of Mr. Phan Dao Quay's family.

Mr. Phan Dao Quay, Nam Cang village, Lien Minh commune, Sa Pa town shared: "Carelessness is water loss, sometimes it is an epidemic, mainly there are too many epidemics, we do not dare to feed them, the more we feed them the more they die. If it continues like this, we do not know when we will get our capital back."

Luckily, he escaped when the flood swept away his fish watching hut, but all 6 fish tanks of Mr. Tan Van Nhan were also swept away, causing damage of about 2 billion VND. Determined to start over, using a bank loan, Mr. Nhan restored the fish ponds right on the Nam Cang stream corridor, which had been swept away by the flood.

Mr. Tan Van Nhan, Nam Cang village, Lien Minh commune, Sa Pa town shared: "Raising fish is very risky, it's like gambling, but we still have to try to raise fish. Now, even though we don't have money, we still borrow money from the bank to invest and reinvest. Now, reinvesting is also very difficult."

Fish die due to disease, lack of water or unsafe water sources, especially risks when the rainy season comes. Raising cold water fish in the stream corridor is no different from "gambling" with the sky as Mr. Nhan shared, however, Lien Minh commune alone has 56 households raising fish in the stream corridor, with an area of violation of more than 17,000 square meters.

Raising cold water fish in stream corridors is no different than "gambling" with the sky.

Mr. Lu Van Suy, Vice Chairman of Lien Minh Commune People's Committee, Sa Pa Town said: "Although we have propagandized to people to stay away, according to the Law on Aquaculture, a certain number of meters away from the flow must be left before a fish farm can be built or restored. People still continue to maintain existing structures because they have invested in them and do not want to abandon them."

In fact, the profits from cold-water fish farming are quite high, so many households still try to raise them, despite warnings from the authorities. Preliminary statistics show that Sa Pa town has 150 households raising cold-water fish in violation of river and stream corridors; the total area of violation is over 40,000 square meters. The Law on Water Resources, effective from July 1, 2024, will be the legal framework for handling violations of river and stream corridors, ensuring the management, protection, exploitation and use of water resources and especially the safety of people's lives and property.

The Van

Source: http://laocaitv.vn/chinh-tri-xa-hoi/nuoi-ca-nuoc-lanh-vung-lu-danh-bac-voi-troi