VietNamNet Bridge - The O Loan Lagoon, a beautiful area in the central province of Phu Yen, is becoming seriously polluted. 

The lagoon has degraded seriously in recent years as construction of people’s houses and shrimp ponds has occurred near it. 

Tran Quang Nhat, deputy chair of the Phu Yen provincial People’s Committee, confirmed that the lagoon was getting narrower because local residents continue to encroach on the lagoon to get land for housing.

O Loan is a brackish water lagoon which has the initial area of 1,200 hectares, famous for many kinds of specialties. 

However, the surface area has been narrowed to 800 hectares, while many aquatic species are in danger.

Nam Bung, a fisherman in An Hiep Commune of Tuy An District, complained that he once earned his living by fishing on O Loan, but he has given up the job. Now he shrouds corpses to earn his living.

“Nothing is left for you to fish today. The lagoon has been ‘torn apart’ by locals to build shrimp ponds,” he said.

“The unreasonable farming has killed all the natural fish and shrimp,” he said.

According to the fisherman, there are thousands of shrimp ponds on the lagoon. 

Before farming, people spray medicine into the lagoon to kill all natural aquatic creatures for fear that the creatures would harm shrimp. 

“Previously, I could easily catch 30-40 kilos of fish overnight. But nowadays, locals randomly can catch small fish, just as large as your wrist. Many species in the lagoon like oysters, scallops, and crabs are no longer there,” he added.

The waste water from shrimp ponds and illegally built houses is discharged directly into the O Loan Lagoon. 

When floods rush down, the lime from shrimp ponds leaks out, which hardens the lagoon’s bottom. There is no suitable habitat for aquatic creatures to live in.

Some fishermen said that the O Loan Lagoon has become shallower by half a meter at least, and they now can cross from one side to another while there is no need to worry that the water level would be above their heads.

Pham Van Bay, deputy director of the Phu Yen provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said O Loan provides a living to local people, so it is very difficult to settle the problem.

“We can only try to prevent land encroachment and ease pollution,” he said.

The local authorities tried to put tens of thousands of breeding oysters in the lagoon in an effort to re-introduce aquatic creatures. However, the oysters were caught by locals before they grew to a mature size.

Thien Nhien