Tons of Fish Found Dead in Park in Vietnam’s Central Danang City

Tons of fish were found dead in a pond at the 29/3 Park located in Vietnam’s central city of Danang, with a foul smell upsetting many local visitors. Most of the dead fish were adult tilapias, some of which weighed up to two kilograms each. A smaller number of common carp and shrimp also suffered the same fate. Dang Duc Thu, director of the Danang Green Tree Park Company which manages the lake, confirmed that fish started dying early in the morning of Aug 1, adding that the phenomenon had worsened by the end of the day. The situation was later reported to the Danang Drainage and Wastewater Company, the firm in charge of supervising the quality of the pond, Thu said. Mai Ma, director of the company, said that his employees had salvaged the bodies of the dead fish with their weight expected to total over two metric tons. The cause of the mass deaths has yet to be determined, Mai said, adding that the phenomenon was not unprecedented. A water sample of the lake has been taken for examination while the lake will be sterilized with lime in the meantime, the director continued. He added that the water in the pond could not be replaced entirely due to a lack of resources. Mass deaths of aquatic species have been recognized in many rivers and ponds in Vietnam recently, mostly due to polluted water which has been contaminated with toxic industrial waste and waste from people. According to foreign media, the Vietnamese government and local authorities are currently turning a blind eye because of the emphasis on economic development. “The Vietnamese think more about ‘today’ than ‘tomorrow’,” says a foreign national living in Vietnam. (Tuoi Tre Aug 3)