Storm No.9, known internationally as Typhoon Usagi has caused unimaginable destruction to lobsters and fish farmers in Vĩnh Hy Bay (Vĩnh Hải commune, Ninh Hải district, Ninh Thuận province), some of whom have nothing left.
Local lobster farmers says due to Typhoon Usagi, flood from mountainous streams fell in aquaculture areas of Vĩnh Hy Bay right at night on November 24th and early 25th, leaving massive death of lobsters and cobia in the sea floating cages.
Farmer Nguyễn Thành Đến (Vĩnh Hải commune, Ninh Hải district) says his family had twenty-five cages of lobsters and eight cages of fish which had been farmed for ten months and were ready for harvest; however flood made a large number of them die. They invested over 600 million dong to those cages but might get back 200 million dong now.
Some are selling frozen dead lobsters to traders at half the usual price; lobsters at size 15 pcs/kg are offered at 100,000 dong/kg.
According to statistics by Vĩnh Hải People’s Committee, there are 84 rafts and 200 cages in the commune with 80 fish cages and 120 lobster cages being destroyed and initial economic loses are estimated to be 12 billion dong.
Chairman of Vĩnh Hải People’s Committee Trần Văn Nam says the cause of massive death of lobsters and fish was flood from mountainous streams. The losses may be more as salinity of water at cages is now much lower, making species suffer from shock.
Vĩnh Hải People’s Committee is requesting functional offices to send staff to survey and help farmers remove their cages to other places and overcome consequences after the storm.
VFM
