The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment claims that there was insufficient evidence that Formosa and other plants in the Vung Ang Economic Zones in Ha Tinh Province were responsible for the mass fish deaths along the central coast.

The announcement was made at a press conference held late yesterday evening after the five-hour closed door meeting between seven ministries, experts and representatives of four central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue in Hanoi.

The press conference only consisted of a statement made by Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Vo Tuan Nhan who then left without responding to questions from any of the nearly 200 reporters present.

 Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Vo Tuan Nhan chaired the press meeting on April 27 evening to report on the cause of the mass fish deaths along the central coast.

The report claimed that mystery toxic substances discharged at sea – the source of which that was not identified - and a harmful algal bloom or red tide which is an extraordinarily rare occurrence in Vietnam, were the causes of the mass fish deaths that had left hundreds of tonnes of dead fish on the beaches of four provinces, decimating fishing and tourism.

"As of this time we don’t have any evidence to prove a link between Formosa and other plants in the Vung Ang Economic Zone to have been responsible for the mass fish deaths," Nhan claimed in his report. "The investigations by scientists and environmental experts on water samples from the area found no substances that exceeded legal levels."

According to the report, it is necessary to further study these two ‘possible’ causes to find out an exact cause and decide measures to prevent similar disasters in the future. The Ministry of Science and Technology will be in charge of these studies and can invite international scientific organisations to help.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will soon announce their analysis of toxic substances on water samples and give necessary warnings on the fishing activities in the areas.

The long-delayed announcement was met by profound disappointment of local media and the public who believe many questions still remain.