Mao Dien farmers: Proactively protect aquatic products, reduce damage caused by floods

Hearing that storm No. 3 is likely to affect the North, for a week now, Mr. Do Dang Nang, one of the first people to set up fish cages on the Duong River (Mao Dien Ward), has been buying more cables and ropes to reinforce the cages, and using winches to move the cages closer to the riverbank to reduce the strong current in the middle of the stream. In recent days, Mr. Nang has mobilized his whole family to add sandbags to the corners of the cages and prepare anti-overflow nets for cages that have not yet been harvested. In addition, Mr. Nang also sorts and harvests the fish that have reached the right weight in advance to minimize risks.

“After experiencing the historic Yagi storm (2024) which damaged more than 40 tons of fish, I am well aware of the devastation caused by natural disasters, so preparations for this year's storm season have been more thorough. My family is maintaining about 60 cages, mainly raising red tilapia, carp, and lagerstroemia. Every day, I closely follow weather forecasts and monitor water currents to come up with timely solutions,” Nang shared.

Mr. Do Dang Nang's household, Mao Dien ward, reinforces the net at the fish cage.

As a large-scale fish farmer in Mao Dien ward, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dang has basically finished harvesting the fish crop, actively pulling the net, and protecting the infrastructure of the cage farming area. Mr. Dang said: “My family has 85 fish cages, last year the damage was nearly 2 billion VND due to Typhoon Yagi, heavy rain, rising river water, fish were jostled and spilled out. After the storm, my family successfully tested raising 20 sturgeon cages, I switched to raising this type of fish to restructure the season. All 85 cages were planted in December, and harvested in June this year. Entering the rainy and stormy season, I temporarily stopped, only reinforced and pulled the net to reduce the resistance of the flow.”

Mao Dien Ward currently has 288 fish cages on the river, mainly households with many years of experience in fish farming. In recent days, fish farming households in the ward have actively implemented measures to protect aquatic products. Storm No. 3 is forecast to not make landfall in Bac Ninh but will cause heavy rain. The water level of the river will continue to rise in the coming days. However, according to the recommendations of fisheries officials, in addition to the problem of moving cages, another risk that can affect the farming environment is that the large amount of water flowing in will suddenly change the oxygen content, making fish susceptible to suffocation. Therefore, the authorities have instructed local authorities to actively propagate to fish cage farming households to regularly monitor weather forecasts and observe the water environment to take measures to prevent fish diseases. Actively care for, raise at low density, avoid using fresh food, periodically prevent diseases to help fish grow well, take advantage of scattered harvests when fish are large enough to minimize risks and increase the number of crops raised each year.

In order to proactively prevent and minimize the impact of floods on fish cages and rafts in the area, the Standing Vice Chairman of Mao Dien Ward People's Committee, Nguyen Dang Quan, said that the local government requires fish farmers not to be subjective, to pay close attention to implementing preventive and control measures; to put human life first; to review current legal regulations to issue documents. When there is a dangerous situation, the ward coordinates with specialized agencies to guide people to proactively evacuate tools, equipment, supplies, food, etc. to a safe place; closely monitor the development of flood water levels in the spirit of not being subjective, negligent, proactively responding, and effectively protecting farmed aquatic products. When there are storms and floods, the river water rises, the locality resolutely requires the evacuation and relocation of workers to safe shelters, absolutely not allowing people to stay on cages and rafts when natural disasters occur.

Article and photos: Tran Uyen - Hoan Thuong

Source: https://baobacninhtv.vn/nong-dan-mao-dien-chu-dong-bao-ve-thuy-san-giam-thiet-hai-do-mua-lu-postid422496.bbg