Authorities in the southern Vietnamese province of Ba Ria- Vung Tau are urgently looking into the cause of the recent mass deaths of farm-raised fish after local farmers expressed discontent by blocking a national highway with dead fish.

A large number of farm-raised fish along the Cha Va River, located in Long Son Commune, started going belly up on Tuesday night, resulting in losses totaling tens of billions of dong (VND1 billion = US$44,366).

Farmers infuriated by the situation decided to pour their dead fish onto the section of National Highway 51 that passes Long Son Commune on Thursday morning as a form of opposition to what they believe is failed regulation of waste from local business, causing traffic delays for several hours.

This is not the first time farmers awoke to their fish populations being decimated.  In 2015 a similar situation occurred in which several local businesses were found responsible for discharging wastewater that killed area fish, yet those responsible have still not compensated for the damages.

Provincial authorities also failed to keep their promises to permanently resolve the problem.

“I cannot believe my fish have died for the second time. My family now owes about VND500 million [$22,183] to the bank and other loaners,” Tao Thuy Lieu, a local fish farmer complained.

“Fish are our only source of income. We mortgaged our homes to operate our fish farms and now we have nothing left,” another affected farmer lamented.

The local administration officials later arrived at the scene to encourage farmers and clear the road.  The affected farmers were then invited to a meeting scheduled in the afternoon of the same day.

Wastewater discharged as per procedures

Speaking at the gathering, Nguyen Thanh Tinh, vice-chairman of the Ba Ria- Vung Tau administration, extended his sympathy to the farmers’ losses, pledging that competent authorities would resolve the matter.

According to Huynh Van Them, deputy head of the provincial Veterinary Department, the fish may have died from the lack of oxygen caused by recent downpours.

The assessment received an immediate objection from a farmer who asserted that wastewater discharged by local processing factories was the primary cause.

The fish began to die when the sewage was released into the river, the farmers explained.

Nguyen Van Hong, deputy manager of the local irrigation works, stated that the wastewater was discharged in accordance with procedures, adding that those procedures were in place to prevent flooding at nearby paddy fields.

According to Pham Van Manh, deputy director of the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment, a total of six area factories discharge wastewater during their operations and liquid waste is recorded at very low amounts.

However, Nguyen Cong Bien, who suffered the heaviest loss, questioned the credibility of the information, before naming other five businesses that also discharged wastewater into the river.

At the end of the meeting, vice-chairman Tinh promised a closer inspection of local factories’ operations, agreeing to let local farmers participate in the monitoring process.

He also collected farmers’ requests for assistance regarding their heavy debts to local banks.