Seaweed harvesting threatens marine life
QUANG NGAI — Over-exploitation of seaweed in central Quang Ngai Province has seriously threatened marine life and caused concerns among fishermen, who say the removal of seaweed has also led to decreasing numbers of fish in the area.
Deputy director of the provincial Department for Exploitation and Protection of Aquatic Resources Phung Dinh Toan said demand for seaweed in places such as China had risen rapidly during the past three years, leading to increasing exploitation of seaweed in Viet Nam's central and southern coastal regions.
"Most people who harvest seaweed are driven by the promise of large profits as you don't need to make a large investment to start doing this job," said Toan.
"A person can earn several hundreds of thousands of dong with only a small boat and a diving mask."
The lure of easy money has led thousands of households in Phuoc Thien, Le Thuy and Thanh Thuy fishing villages in Binh Hai Commune, Dinh Tan Village in Binh Chau Commune and Ly Son Island rushing to collect seaweed.
Bui Thi Quan from Thanh Thuy fishing village said her three children could earn between VND300,000 (US$15.7) and VND500,000 ($26.3) each day collecting seaweed.
According to Hoang Van Tho, a representative from Binh Hai Commune People's Committee, seaweed grows five to 10m below the water's surface and is one of the main sources of food for many fish species, who also use seaweed as a safe place to lay eggs.
"Previously, local residents in the coastal areas only collected seaweed as an source of additional income during periods when they could not go fishing," said Tho.
"Now more and more people are exploiting it as their primary source of income and this has led to the disappearance of large areas of seaweed along with the species that rely on it."
Tho said fishermen were claiming that over-exploitation of seaweed was also leading to a drop in the number of fish in the area, and that has resulted in lower catches.
"Several fights were reported between fishermen and seaweed divers," he said.
Toan said seaweed was not on the list of rare and endangered plants that were protected from exploitation.
"So it's rather difficult to punish residents for harvesting seaweed despite the impact on the environmental," he said.
Toan said the department has completed a survey on seaweed exploitation in the three districts and encouraged people not to exploit seaweed until June, after marine species have laid eggs.
Seaweed collectors had also been urged to cut off the top parts of the plant instead of harvesting all the seaweed in an area, Toan said.
"Local residents know they may catch fewer fish if they keep over-exploiting seaweed," he said. "We need to balance the interests of business and the environment." — VNS