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Ca Mau shrimp farmers lop vital mangrove

CA MAU — Officials in Ca Mau have ordered shrimp farmers in the region to stop cutting down the mangrove forest to expand production.

Nguyen Van Dien, deputy director of the provincial Fisheries Department, said the department would send staff to teach farmers how to increase their output without cutting down the trees.

There is about 118,000ha of mangrove forest left in Ca Mau, including 66,000ha in the Ngoc Hien District. About 18,654ha of forest were cut down from 1997-2000.

Ta Van Ca, 78, said the mangrove forest was made up of small, short trees. Shrimp farmers cut down the larger trees.

The farmers were happy when they earned VND80,000-100,000 per kilogram for their shrimp. However, their shrimp started to die when the trees lost their leaves, which polluted the water, he said.

As the shrimp died, the farmers cut down more trees to save them because none of them wanted their families to go hunger. The farmers pruned the mangroves to allow light to filter down to the shrimp.

They knew they were damaging the forest, but they refused to stop because their lives depended on such operations, said Ca.

Tran Hoang Chen, chairman of the People’s Committee for Ngoc Hien District, said the economy failed when the shrimp died. Environmental conditions had a huge impact of farmers’ outputs, he said.

The shrimp industry should change, because the forest must be protected, he said. Nguyen Thanh Viet, deputy of the district’s Agriculture and Rural Development, said the forest was becoming smaller due to shrimp farming.

Farmers used to grow freshwater crayfish before 1997. When they discovered they could earn more money raising prawns, farmers chopped down more trees, he said

About 157,000 people live in the district. More than 14,000 household raised shrimp in 51,000ha mangrove forest. Each household received 3-7ha for their operation.

District officials said they hoped the forest would recover in five years. —VNS