Thousands of fish along the coast from the central provinces of Ha Tinh to Thua Thien-Hue’s have died en mass and the finger of blame is being pointed at the Vung Ang Industrial Zone.

Dead fish in Ha Tinh Province

Thao, a resident in Thua Thien-Hue Province said locals have found dead fish, shrimps and squid washed up from the sea, and three days ago, even fish living in the estuaries had started to die.

Meanwhile, people in other provinces include Ha Tinh and Quang Tri are pulling tonnes of dead fish from the sea since the first of April. At first, the amounts of dead fish were small, but the size of deaths now indicates a huge problem.

From April 10 to 14, locals in Quang Trach District, Quang Binh Province, found huge amounts of dead fish being washed ashore. Dead fish continued to appear in other districts afterwards. Farmed fish have also died, causing huge losses to farmers. One local ate the dead fish and immediately suffered the symptoms of severe food poisoning.

People in Quang Tri Province pull up tonnes of dead fish

Hoang Viet Thong, vice head of Quang Binh Province Aquaculture Department said the authorities had taken water samples to find the cause of the death.

"The results show that the water around Vung Ang Industrial Zone in Ha Tinh Province has been contaminated. This contaminated water then flowed southward to Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces," said the representative of Quang Binh Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Thua Thien-Hue Province also said the pH level in the water had changed dramatically, while the phosphate ion PO4 increased causing a lack of oxygen underwater. The Centre for Environment and Disease Monitoring in Aquaculture reported that the untreated waste water from Vung Ang Industrial Zone was discharged directly into the environment and contaminated the water.

There are various factories operating inside Vung Ang Industrial Zone including Vung Ang 1 Thermal Power Plant, Vung Ang Petroleum Warehouse and Formosa Heavy Industry Corp.