The 12 aquatic protected areas inThua Thien-Hue cover a combined acreage of nearly 364 ha out of the22,000 ha of the Tam Giang-Cau Hai lagoon, which is the largest of itskind in Southeast Asia .
The establishment ofsuch protected areas aims to preserve and develop aquatic resources inthe lagoon with the involvement of the local community.
Since the beginning of the year, localities in the lagoon region havemobilised local people to release breeding fish and prawn fry intoaquatic protection areas.
In addition to theestablishment of community-based aquatic protected areas, the provincehas licensed 45 fishery association branches to catch seafood on 71percent of water surface in the lagoon.
More than 300,000people, or nearly 30 percent of the province’s population, live onresources from the lagoon. They harvest about 7,000 tonnes of aquaticproducts per year.-VNA