Over 50 Tons of Grouper Die After Heavy Rains in Thanh Hoa

Over 50 tons of farmed grouper (cá mú) have died in the Lạch Bạng river mouth area of Thanh Hoa province, central Vietnam, following prolonged heavy rains. The sudden drop in salinity caused by freshwater influx has led to significant losses for 14 fishing households, with damages estimated in the billions of dong (tens of millions of USD). Mr. Nguyễn Văn Tính, who has been farming fish in the area for over a decade, described the current situation as unprecedented. His nearly 100 cages saw fish begin to die sporadically about a week ago, with mass deaths occurring since September 19. The affected fish, weighing between 100 grams and 2.5 kilograms, represent a loss of approximately 20 tons of commercial fish for his family, amounting to an estimated 5 billion dong (approximately $200,000 USD). As the dead fish cannot be sold to restaurants, his family has hired workers to collect them and send them to facilities for drying and grinding into animal feed. While live grouper fetch between 200,000-220,000 dong per kilogram, the dead fish are only sold for about 7,000 dong. "The rain and floods have left my family with nothing, completely depleted," Mr. Tính lamented. Other households in the Lạch Bạng river mouth area have also reported fish deaths ranging from 2 to 10 tons per family, with the total loss estimated between 50-60 tons. Many of these households had borrowed money from banks or relatives to invest in their farms, making debt repayment and recovery a significant challenge. Mr. Tính believes that the prolonged rainfall caused a massive influx of freshwater from upstream, leading to a sudden change in salinity that shocked the fish. While past years have seen grouper deaths due to disease or heatwaves, the scale of this synchronized mass mortality is unmatched. Mr. Phạm Hoài Hoài Nam, Chairman of the Hải Bình ward People's Committee, stated that the cage farming area at Lạch Bạng river mouth was established about 15 years ago and currently involves 13 households. However, the area is designated for ship anchorage, storm shelter, and seafood loading/unloading according to zoning plans. More than 10 kilometers north of Hải Bình, in Ngọc Sơn ward, an estimated 3,000 tons of farmed clams (ngao) have also died in recent days. Agricultural authorities preliminarily attribute this to heavy rainfall from the upstream Yên River, which brought a large volume of freshwater and sediment, rapidly reducing salinity and stressing the clams. According to the Thanh Hoa Provincial Civil Defense Command, from September 13 to 21, floods and heavy rains forced the evacuation of over 2,600 households, comprising about 9,000 people, across 82 communes. Currently, 124 households (over 460 people) in 21 communes remain displaced due to landslide risks or damaged homes. The heavy rains damaged 89 houses, caused landslides in over 350 locations on national and provincial roads, disrupting traffic. Additionally, over 7,300 hectares of rice, sugarcane, and other crops were submerged, and nearly 4,660 hectares of aquaculture farms experienced breaches and losses. In the past three days, rainfall in Thanh Hoa has decreased, and river levels are receding rapidly. Over 22,000 military and police personnel, along with approximately 16,500 local security forces, have been mobilized to assist residents in overcoming the aftermath.