O Loan lagoon is a national-level scenic relic, but over the past time it has been damaged by exploiting aquatic products in an eradicating way, encroachment on construction, which has affected the landscape and caused environmental pollution. The Provincial People's Committee has implemented many drastic measures to deal with encroachment on the water surface and destructive fishing to restore the intact status of the national landscape.

Dismantling bamboo piles, nets and fishing tools to destroy creatures in O Loan lagoon

O Loan is a brackish lagoon, with a water surface area of ​​nearly 1,570ha, fishermen in the 4 communes of An Ninh Dong, An Hoa Hai, An Hiep, An Cu (Tuy An district) live along the lagoon. Over the past two years, the People's Committee of Tuy An district had kinds of nets for fishing and bamboo poles planted in the sticks under the lagoon confiscated to release the water surface, with the determination to beautify the national landscape of O Loan lagoon.

Mr Pham Ngoc Thanh, Vice Chairman of People's Committee of Tuy An district took us along the lagoon, departing from An Hoa Hai commune through An Ninh Dong, An Cu and then An Hiep communes. On the way, Mr. Thanh said: Following the directions of the PPC on handling land encroachment, violating construction order and sustainably developing O Loan lagoon, in May 2019, at the foot of Long Phu bridge (An Cu commune), the District People's Committee held a campaign to relieve, recover kinds of fishing nets, bamboo poles embedded under O Loan lagoon. In August 2019, the district established an inspection team using canoes to inspect the lagoon on the clearance of shrimp ponds illegally built on O Loan lagoon. During that time, the locality and the inspection team organized a survey, asking for households to use the above fishing gears to dialogue and mobilize people to stop destructive fishing operations and dismantle themselves.

Being the commune with the lowest rate in the task of handling the above drawback, Mr. Vo Chi Tinh, Chairman of the People's Committee of An Hiep commune explained: Implementing the plan of the District People's Committee on directing the localities to simultaneously relieve, confiscate and destroy fishing gears of destroying aquatic products in the lagoon, An Hiep commune held a meeting to mobilize the people to comply, then the Communal People’s Committee went out to clean up. Some households leave fishing gears on the shore, but they do not use it nor destroy it, which has made it difficult to confiscate and handle. In the coming time, the locality will strictly handle this issue to restore the intact status of the lagoon with clear, green, clean and beautiful space.

Luoi Go village (An Cu commune), like a piece of soil flowing out in the middle of O Loan lagoon, people here live by fishing in the lagoon. Often through the "vomiting" water season (in the rainy season, the flood water comes from the Ky Lo river branch, causing the water in the lagoon to rise and become muddy, the people around the area call the "vomiting" water season - Reporter), people release their nets and trap to catch crabs - specialty in the lagoon, but nowadays crabs are no longer available. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien from Luoi Go village let known: This type of crab is as big as a big bowl, its claws is as big as a toe. At night, fishermen catch crabs, in the morning, people in the village tie crabs by using banana strings to not let crabs move). During the recent years, crabs in the lagoon have disappeared...

In addition to crab, shrimp, blood cockles, O Loan lagoon has another specialty, the jellyfish. O Loan jellyfish is very delicious, meat is chewy, jellyfish legs are crispy. Along the O Loan lagoon, there was an area where jellyfish density was thick, people specialized in catching jellyfish called Jelly hamlet (An Cu commune). According to many people here, jellyfish in this area have a “lagoon” smell... very delicious, chewy jellyfish, crunchy legs, and jellyfish meat elsewhere is distinctly. However, recently, when the season comes, jellyfish are not floating on the lagoon due to water pollution.

Now O Loan lagoon is spacious, the water is fresh blue again. Hopefully, this year's rainy season, fish and shrimp will reproduce again, creating a livelihood for people along the lagoon.

Source: Phu Yen Newspaper

Translated by TRINH THUY