VietNamNet Bridge – Agencies in the central province of Ha Tinh have been trying to identify the cause of the mass fish deaths in the local coastal breeding cages on Saturday.

Dead fish found in a breeding cage. Photo infonet.vn

Phan Duy Vĩnh, deputy chairman of the province’s Ky Anh Town, was quoted by local newspapers as saying the town authorities and the province’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment had taken samples of dead fish in the town for testing.

Earlier on Saturday morning, breeders and traders who own cages placed in the waters of Vung Ang sea zone found that their fish and squid had died en mass.

A report released by the town authorities said they had found 240kg of dead fish and squid. However, all the dead fish were those that had been bred.

The report also mentioned the fish died because of oxygen shortage. It said the construction of habours in nearby Hoanh Son Port had obstructed the natural flow of sea water. Further, waste dumping and their daily release into the sea zone at the same time had reduced the oxygen in the water.

Ky Anh Town is home to the Hung Nghiep Formosa Steel Plant, whose toxic spill killed fish en mass in the ocean bordering four central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien- Hue in April 2016.

Source: VNS