THỪA THIÊN- HUẾ — A total of 300,000 ocean fingerlings were released into an area of Tam Giang Lagoon in central Thừa Thiên- Huế Province, aiming to produce a swift recovery for local seafood resources after the Formosa toxic spill in 2016.

The release followed a seminar reviewing the impact of the environmental disaster on seafood resources held in the province on Thursday. The area chosen for the release was close to the Thuận An Seagate and the fingerlings are expected to thrive in the ocean environment.

At the seminar, the Directorate of Fisheries showed figures demonstrating the falling number of species in the local ocean environment due to the toxic spill.

Families of fish dropped from 62 to 41 while species of fish fell from 151 to 89. A lot of endemic deep sea species disappeared completely from the area.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vũ Văn Tám, suggested that authorities of the affected localities should contribute actively in the protection of endangered fish species after the spill.

He hailed the ban on using devastating fishing equipment in the affected ocean area to give fish species a chance to recover.

The Directorate of Fisheries has also proposed a zoning plan which clearly defines the areas where fishing is prohibited and those that need the addition of fingerlings.

It also developed a financial policy to assist fishermen who are impacted by the deep sea fishing ban.

In April 2016, the Taiwanese Hưng Nghiệp Formosa Steel Plant, based in central Hà Tĩnh Province, released toxic waste into the ocean which killed local marine life and affected the province and neighboring localities of Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên- Huế. — VNS