BÀ RỊA-VŨNG TÀU – Dozens of tonnes of cobia in various rivers of Tân Thành District and Vũng Tàu City, Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province, have been dying en masse for the past 10 days.

The authorities are yet to determine the cause of the deaths.

Trần Anh Dũng, a farmer raising fish in the Dinh River, said that since last Friday, more than a tonne of cobia belonging to his family, each of them about 3kg to 4kg, died en masse. A week ago, about five tonnes of his cobia had died.

Fish being raised in the Rạch Ván River also died, inflicting losses worth hundreds of millions of đồng (VNĐ100 million equals US$4,400).

Farmers raising cobia in the Chà Và River said the cobia died quickly, giving them no time to undertake any measures.

A farmer, who did not wish to give her name, said that she lost more than 1.5 tonnes of fish worth VNĐ150 million ($6,600).

“Seeing the fish die, I am shaken,” she said.

Trần Công Biên, an experienced fish breeder, believed that the fish died because the weather had been hot, muggy with little wind, recently.

The fish will die if farmers do not take measures to keep the water cool, and create more oxygen in the water, he said.

An official from the Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Aquatic Product Department told the Thanh Niên (Young People) newspaper that the department had not estimated the exact number of dead fish.

After receiving the information, the department took water samples for tests, he said.

Tests showed that the river water was not polluted. The reasons for the death are still being investigated, he added. – VNS