QUẢNG TRỊ — The General Department of Environment will investigate ‘weird’ mud that damaged fishing nets in the central provinces of Quảng Trị and Quảng Bình.

The department’s director, Nguyễn Văn Tài, was quoted by local newspapers as saying that it would send a team to collaborate with local authorities to identify the mud that had blackened fishing nets on boats off the coast of Cồn Cỏ Island in Quảng Trị.

Earlier this month, three boat owners in the province’s Cửa Tùng Township found their nets covered with black mud, which was difficult to remove.

Bùi Đình Mười, a boat owner, said he was fishing some 14 nautical miles from the island when the crew found buoys attached to the nets had begun sinking. Mười added that nets covered with the mud became heavy and hard when the mud dried.

Bùi Xuân Tấn, another boat owner, lost half of his nets as they sank due to the heavy weight from the mud.

Further, a boat owned by Bùi Đình Thuận sank on the way to shore because of the weight, as Thuận attempted to transport the mud-filled nets to shore.

Tấn said he had never seen this kind of mud in his 35-years of fishing. He noted that the wet mud was yellow, but became dark as it dried.

Võ Văn Hưng, deputy chairman of Quảng Trị Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said samples of the mud had been taken for testing, but results had not been released.

Meanwhile, the province’s People’s Committee pledged to provide subsidies to boat owners who suffered losses due to the mud.

In Quảng Bình Province, fishermen reported that their nets were covered by the same type of mud. Nguyễn Phương Lâm, an official of Ngư Thủy Nam Commune, said local fishermen described similar problems in Quảng Trị.

Trần Phong, director of Quảng Bình Department of Natural Resources and Environment, pledged to have the mud analysed promptly.— VNS