Vietnam News & Discussion

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Re: Vietnam News & Discussion

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

More on the continuing impact of the Formosa steel plant environmental disaster on the population:
'We are jobless because of fish poisoning': Vietnamese fishermen battle for justice
14 August 2017
“We used to eat the meat of the pig, but now all we have to eat is the skin” – the Vietnamese saying neatly encapsulates the predicament facing the country’s fishermen, says Nguyen Viet Thieu.

“Before the marine disaster happened, I could earn up to 15m Vietnamese dongs [£500],” reflects Nguyen. “But after, I didn’t sell any fish at all. I was sick of my profession.”
He moors and ties his small boat in the dock of Tan An village. Today, he has caught nothing.

Families from Nghe An say their livelihoods have been destroyed by the toxic discharge from a steel plant in neighbouring Ha Tinh province. But compensation has been awarded only to people in Ha Tinh and three other adjacent provinces – Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue.

Anger has been growing over the government’s handling of what is thought to be the country’s worst environmental disaster – affecting 450 hectares (1,112 acres) of coral reefs, of which about half were totally destroyed...
Full article :https://www.theguardian.com/global-deve ... le-justice
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hanno
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Re: Vietnam News & Discussion

Post by hanno »

Certainly, Formosa carries part of the blame.

What the fisherman doesn't mention is that he hasn't earned 15m VND in ages to to widespread overfishing, destruction of the reefs due to the use of explosive, etc.
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Re: Vietnam News & Discussion

Post by siliconlife »

hanno wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:46 am Certainly, Formosa carries part of the blame.

What the fisherman doesn't mention is that he hasn't earned 15m VND in ages to to widespread overfishing, destruction of the reefs due to the use of explosive, etc.
Source?
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Re: Vietnam News & Discussion

Post by hanno »

siliconlife wrote: Sun Aug 20, 2017 3:07 pm
hanno wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:46 am Certainly, Formosa carries part of the blame.

What the fisherman doesn't mention is that he hasn't earned 15m VND in ages to to widespread overfishing, destruction of the reefs due to the use of explosive, etc.
Source?
Personal observation. I see it every day I look out of my office window. It is spawning season in the Mekong at the moment and though the government has banned it, the fishermen are pulling out all the fry.
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Re: Vietnam News & Discussion

Post by siliconlife »

hanno wrote: Mon Aug 21, 2017 8:08 am
siliconlife wrote: Sun Aug 20, 2017 3:07 pm
hanno wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:46 am Certainly, Formosa carries part of the blame.

What the fisherman doesn't mention is that he hasn't earned 15m VND in ages to to widespread overfishing, destruction of the reefs due to the use of explosive, etc.
Source?
Personal observation. I see it every day I look out of my office window. It is spawning season in the Mekong at the moment and though the government has banned it, the fishermen are pulling out all the fry.
Fair enough. Having lived recently in Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces, my observation was that this particular case is more of a political/social issue than a supply issue, at least for the moment. There is still an abundance of local seafood for sale in these provinces that was previously very popular, but the problem is that no one will touch it, having knowledge of and strong emotions toward the Formosa Ha Tinh issue. All the fishing I witnessed was conducted with nets.

Still, I think calling this the biggest environmental disaster the country has ever seen probably overlooks the more widespread and long term issues of Vietnam's general treatment of the environment, including the problems you mentioned.
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Re: Vietnam News & Discussion

Post by AlonzoPartriz »

siliconlife wrote: Mon Aug 21, 2017 8:25 am
hanno wrote: Mon Aug 21, 2017 8:08 am
siliconlife wrote: Sun Aug 20, 2017 3:07 pm
hanno wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:46 am Certainly, Formosa carries part of the blame.

What the fisherman doesn't mention is that he hasn't earned 15m VND in ages to to widespread overfishing, destruction of the reefs due to the use of explosive, etc.
Source?
Personal observation. I see it every day I look out of my office window. It is spawning season in the Mekong at the moment and though the government has banned it, the fishermen are pulling out all the fry.
Fair enough. Having lived recently in Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces, my observation was that this particular case is more of a political/social issue than a supply issue, at least for the moment. There is still an abundance of local seafood for sale in these provinces that was previously very popular, but the problem is that no one will touch it, having knowledge of and strong emotions toward the Formosa Ha Tinh issue. All the fishing I witnessed was conducted with nets.

Still, I think calling this the biggest environmental disaster the country has ever seen probably overlooks the more widespread and long term issues of Vietnam's general treatment of the environment, including the problems you mentioned.
Interesting. I wouldn't​ touch it either.
See crook!!!
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Re: Vietnam News & Discussion

Post by hanno »

siliconlife wrote: Mon Aug 21, 2017 8:25 amThere is still an abundance of local seafood for sale in these provinces that was previously very popular, but the problem is that no one will touch it, having knowledge of and strong emotions toward the Formosa Ha Tinh issue. All the fishing I witnessed was conducted with nets.

Still, I think calling this the biggest environmental disaster the country has ever seen probably overlooks the more widespread and long term issues of Vietnam's general treatment of the environment, including the problems you mentioned.
I certainly agree with the second part, not with the first part though. When I first worked in Phan Thiet 27 years ago, the local markets would have good-sized tuna, Sailfish, Rock Cod, Red Snapper and other valuable fish. Now all these fish have mostly gone and the remaining fish on offer are a fraction of the size they used to be.
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Re: Vietnam News & Discussion

Post by siliconlife »

hanno wrote: Mon Aug 21, 2017 8:51 am
siliconlife wrote: Mon Aug 21, 2017 8:25 amThere is still an abundance of local seafood for sale in these provinces that was previously very popular, but the problem is that no one will touch it, having knowledge of and strong emotions toward the Formosa Ha Tinh issue. All the fishing I witnessed was conducted with nets.

Still, I think calling this the biggest environmental disaster the country has ever seen probably overlooks the more widespread and long term issues of Vietnam's general treatment of the environment, including the problems you mentioned.
I certainly agree with the second part, not with the first part though. When I first worked in Phan Thiet 27 years ago, the local markets would have good-sized tuna, Sailfish, Rock Cod, Red Snapper and other valuable fish. Now all these fish have mostly gone and the remaining fish on offer are a fraction of the size they used to be.
I'm sure you're right, but Phan Thiet is a long way away from Nghe An and the areas affected by the FHT scandal. It was clear to me that, controversy aside, fishery was still a vibrant, important and well-established industry up there. It's probably the case that the fisheries in that region are not what they once were as well, but it still doesn't detract from the great and immediate loss of livelihood of thousands of families, which is what these people are upset about, and should be taken into consideration as well. Additional complications arise from distrust of the Vietnamese government's reports on the issue - the government reported on cyanide and strychnine (was it? can search for the source if you want), which dissolve in water relatively quickly, but people believe there may be more disastrous consequences stemming from heavy metal dumping which they suspect the VCP of covering up, leading to violent riots resulting in arson and murder. The issues certainly overlap on an ecological level, but are also have their own distinct spheres as well. The issue is a complex one with no clear rights and wrongs. Or maybe just too many wrongs.
Thanks for some interesting first-hand views on the matter, by the way.
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Re: Vietnam News & Discussion

Post by mauser765 »

Has the Fukushima spill affected fish off Vietnam? I'm pretty sure it must have. Would levels of toxicity be greater in Vietnam than, say, Australia, or the wets coast of the Americas?

Trying to get people to stop fishing so stocks can recover will be almost impossible without the use of military force, which will obviously destabilise many countries.
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Re: Vietnam News & Discussion

Post by hanno »

It would appear that the entire Pacific is contaminated: http://www.trueactivist.com/fukushima-r ... get-worse/

However, this is not at all talked about in Vietnam. The Vietnamese government has no interest in risking its fishing interest and if it had not been too big to cover up, the whole Formosa thing would have been kept under wraps.
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