The "capital" of cold-water fish in Lam Dong is struggling because the stream water source is gradually drying up...

Ro Men Commune, Dam Rong District is considered the “capital” of cold-water fish farming in Lam Dong Province. In recent years, sturgeon and salmon farming has helped many families here become prosperous. However, since the beginning of the dry season, the Mat stream, the source of clean water for the cold-water fish farming village in Ro Men, has gradually dried up and worries are appearing on cold-water fish farms.

The Mat stream water source is running out, causing many cold-water fish farmers in Ro Men commune, Dam Rong district, Lam Dong to worry.

Mr. Nong Manh Cuong's family is one of the large-scale sturgeon farming households in Ro Men commune , with a total of 18 concrete ponds and ponds lined with plastic tarpaulins. To ensure an environment for the fish to grow, he designed 4 water supply pipe systems for each pond. "Currently, the source from Mat stream is drying up, only enough to supply 1 tap to the pond. Due to the lack of water, many fish get sick and die, my family had to close 10 ponds," Mr. Cuong said sadly.

According to Mr. Cuong, the water shortage occurs during the dry season, from December of the previous year to the end of April of the following year. Especially since 2019, many local households and businesses have invested in and expanded the area and scale of sturgeon farming, so the water shortage has become increasingly serious.

A series of sturgeon ponds of Mr. Nong Manh Cuong's family had to be abandoned due to lack of water.

Near Cuong's family farm, Mai Thi Kim Ngoc's family has 10 fish ponds, with a total area of ​​about 1 hectare, each year Ms. Ngoc's family breeds more than 20,000 sturgeon. Ms. Ngoc shared that sturgeon grow and develop well in an environment of flowing, clean water and a temperature maintained below 20 degrees Celsius. Ro Men commune only has water from Mat stream that meets the conditions for raising sturgeon. But in the dry season, the stream water dries up, making fish farmers very worried. "In 2024, due to the impact of drought, we were forced to reduce farming capacity and transfer fish from 4 ponds to other farms in the province for storage," Ms. Ngoc said sadly.

Ms. Mai Thi Kim Ngoc's family was forced to move fish to other farms in the province to store due to severe water shortage.

Chairman of the People's Committee of Ro Men Commune, Le Cong Trong, said that cold-water fish farming in the locality has been focused on developing by local people and businesses since 2015. Initially, there were only a few experimental models, but now the whole commune has more than 60 households, companies, and cooperatives raising sturgeon, with a total of 7 hectares of water surface. This is one of the communes with the largest area of ​​cold-water fish farming in Dam Rong District.

“Thanks to favorable natural conditions and increasingly improved farming techniques, cold-water fish bring high economic efficiency, so the locality always creates conditions for people and businesses to invest and develop,” Mr. Trong informed.

However, according to Mr. Trong, the biggest difficulty now is that during the dry season, the stream water source is reduced, so fish farmers have to share with each other to maintain production. Recently, local authorities have advised people not to expand the fish farming area, or to switch farms to raising other types of aquatic products to ensure safety.

The Chairman of the People's Committee of Ro Men commune said: "In the coming time, the commune government will coordinate with functional agencies to study and research technical and technological solutions related to water resources in cold-water fish farming. From there, the locality will disseminate them to fish farmers to apply in production, avoiding damage caused by climate change."

Most sturgeon farming households in Ro Men commune use water from Mat stream to their fish ponds. However, this only source of water is gradually drying up, causing many households to worry.

According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dam Rong district, the district currently has more than 15 hectares of water surface for raising Siberian sturgeon, with 83 households raising commercial fish. Communes with large concentrated sturgeon farming areas are Ro Men, Lieng Srong, Da Tong, Da M'Rong and Da Long. The water source for raising fish is mainly led from natural streams to the ponds. According to the plan, in the period of 2025-2030, the locality will expand the farming area to 50 hectares.

Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dam Rong District, Nguyen Van Chinh, assessed that cold-water fish farming generates high profits, contributing to promoting local socio-economic development, but also has many shortcomings. "We recommend that fish farmers reduce the scale and area of ​​farming in the dry season; focus on applying new and appropriate science and technology to use water resources effectively, contributing to the sustainable development of the local cold-water fishery industry," Mr. Chinh suggested.

In recent times, sturgeon farming has brought high income to people in Ro Men commune, which is considered the "capital" of cold-water fish in Lam Dong province.

Faced with the scarcity of clean water for cold-water fish farming in the dry season of the Central Highlands, in the coming time, the agricultural sector of Dam Rong district will coordinate with relevant agencies and units to review and supplement plans and assess the flow of streams to create favorable conditions to attract and support cold-water fish farmers to develop more strongly.

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/thu-phu-ca-nuoc-lanh-tai-lam-dong-lao-dao-vi-nguon-nuoc-suoi-dan-can-kiet-243035.html