At night, 10 trawlers gather in the Binh Chau coastal waters in Quang Ngai province to catch all kinds of aquatic creatures, including the smallest fish and shrimp the activity damages coral reefs.

“Our fishing nets and fish cages are also ‘swept away’ by trawlers. If you complain about that, you will be threatened with death,” said Nguyen Van Bay in An Hai commune of Ly Son district.

The Tam Giang – Cau Hai Lagoon, covering 22,000 hectares, which crosses five districts and communes of Thua Thien – Hue province, has plentiful aquatic resources. There are 15,000 people living on aquaculture and fishery.

Truong Viet Phuong, one of the local fishermen, said there were many fish and it was easy to fish to earn a living. However, fish resources are declining and he now catches several kilos every day.

Dang Viet Nuoc, deputy chair of the Quang An commune, said local men usually hover around lagoon areas, mostly in September and October, and use 500V electricity to catch fish.

“The men just need 15 minutes to catch all aquatic creatures because they use extirpative equipment,” he explained.

The destructive fishing has seriously affected the aquatic resources in the localities and caused pollution. Tiếp tục đọc “More fish die as extirpative exploitation continues” →