VietNamNet Bridge – The General Department of Environment will investigate ‘weird’ mud that damaged fishing nets in the central provinces of Quang Tri and Quang Binh.

A Quang Tri fishing boat’s net covered by strange mud. Photo laodong.com.vn

The department’s director, Nguyen Van Tai, was quoted by local newspapers as saying that it would send a team to collaborate with local authorities to identify the mud that had blackened fishing nets on boats off the coast of Con Co Island in Quang Tri.

Earlier this month, three boat owners in the province’s Cua Tung Township found their nets covered with black mud, which was difficult to remove.

Bui Dinh Muoi, a boat owner, said he was fishing some 14 nautical miles from the island when the crew found buoys attached to the nets had begun sinking. Muoi added that nets covered with the mud became heavy and hard when the mud dried.

Bui Xuan Tan, another boat owner, lost half of his nets as they sank due to the heavy weight from the mud.

Further, a boat owned by Bui Dinh Thuan sank on the way to shore because of the weight, as Thuan attempted to transport the mud-filled nets to shore.

Tan said he had never seen this kind of mud in his 35-years of fishing. He noted that the wet mud was yellow, but became dark as it dried.

Vo Van Hung, deputy chairman of Quang Trị Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said samples of the mud had been taken for testing, but results had not been released.

Meanwhile, the province’s People’s Committee pledged to provide subsidies to boat owners who suffered losses due to the mud.

In Quang Binh Province, fishermen reported that their nets were covered by the same type of mud. Nguyen Phuong Lam, an official of Ngu Thuy Nam Commune, said local fishermen described similar problems in Quang Tri.

Tran Phong, director of Quang Binh Department of Natural Resources and Environment, pledged to have the mud analysed promptly. 

VNS