On the afternoon of 24 August, a large quantity of polluted, opalescent water was found flowing from Son Tra District’s Tho Quang fishing wharf into the waters of the nearby lagoon.  The next day, farmed fish in 15 out of the 30 floating cages in the area were all found to have died.  As a result, the fish breeders affected had to sell their dead fish to local seafood traders at very cheap prices. 

Farmed fish from the area, including grouper, tinca tinca and red snapper, generally fetch high prices.  They can bring in between 250,000 VND and 300,000 VND/kg, but the dead fish could only be sold at between 25,000 VND and 30,000 VND/kg.   Initial estimates show that, as a result, the fish farmers have each suffered a loss of between 250 million VND and 350 million VND.  The money collected from the sale of the dead fish was only enough to cover the cost of the fish food used.

Some of the hundreds of dead fish

It is thought that either the hot weather or untreated wastewater illegally discharged from the nearby seafood processing plants has caused the problem.  No way has been found by local relevant agencies to resolve the issue because local residents are warned against breeding fish in these waters.