Fishermen in a commune in the central province of Quang Binh where has been affected by the mass fish death said that they had found layers of dead fish in the local seabed.

Le Minh Ngan, Director of Quang Binh Province’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment said the fishermen in Nhan Trach Commune, Bo Trach District suddenly detected the problem while diving into the local seabed some 2-3 nautical miles from the shore.

Dead fish on a Quang Binh beach

The layers of dead fish also covered coral reefs with many kinds of fish are lying decomposing, contaminating the water.

Nguyen Can, a local fisherman, who usually fishes near the shore, said that normally his net was very dirty when fishing in the coral reef area, but recently, it is very different in colour as it has become whiter and looked almost new. He suspects that the sea water contains detergents.

Another local fisherman Nguyen Nhon said that the sea smelled of detergents.

Seawater along a 1.5-kilometre stretch of coast in Nhan Trach Commune was reported to have turned red on the morning of May 4

Quang Binh’s the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has informed the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the problem, asking the ministry to carry out an inspection through careful tests of water and sediment samples to find out the cause of the mass fish death in the four central provinces of Quang Binh, Ha Tinh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue.

At around 7.30 am on May 4, seawater along a 1.5-kilometre stretch of coast in Nhan Trach Commune was reported to have turned red, with the colour having faded away by 11 am.