Song Hai village was the most popular place for raising cagefish in Thach Ha district.
Local fish farmers turned to caged farming to take advantageof the Do Diem River that crosses through the area. The products are consumedin the province and in other large markets in the northern region such as Hanoiand Quang Ninh province.
Nguyen Van Binh, a cage fish farmer in Song Hai village, saidto baohatinh.vn: “The incident in September 2019 caused my family more than 500million VND (21,500 USD) in damages, leaving me in debt.”
But Binh was still passionate about cage aquaculture, so hedecided to invest, hoping to recover the losses caused by last year’s naturaldisaster.
In October 2019, with financial support from family andfriends, he designed his own cages to raise 1,000 fish.
Thanks to proper technical care, the fish have been growingwell, reaching weights of 0.3-0.5kg, so he was able to sell them to restaurantsand hotels in the area.
Binh said he would set up a network of buyers and graduallyexpand his business to 12 cages, hoping for a bumper harvest by the end of thisyear.
“To limit the risk of natural disasters, I'm planning to buyagricultural insurance,” he said.
Nguyen Van Duc, head of Song Hai village, said: “After theSeptember 2019 incident, many cage fish farmers here have overcome difficultiesto restore production.”
Currently, eight among 52 fish-raising households areinvesting in building cages and raising thousands of fingerlings.
Nguyen Van Sau, Head of the Thach Ha District Division ofAgriculture and Rural Development, said in order to overcome damages caused bylast year’s flood, the provincial Fatherland Front Committee has decided tooffer support totalling 707 million VND (30,400 USD) to local cage fishfarmers.
Cage fish farming on the open waters of the river here hasmore advantages compared to traditional pond models, especially in terms of thefish quality and output, according to many local fish farmers. Cage fishfarming in Thach Son commune has brought a high income to many households.
However, the job brings with it many risks due to naturaldisasters, especially flooding.
Therefore, during the farming process, the fish breeders needto follow the seasonal calendar, regularly monitor the weather’s changes totake appropriate measures, aiming at minimising the damage./.