Crocodiles die en masse in Bac Lieu

Thousands of juvenile crocodiles died mysteriously last week in the southern province of Bac Lieu\'s Phuoc Long District.

Phuoc Long District People\'s Committee deputy chairman Tran Van An said that about 1,000 households in the district had been raising a total of 200,000 crocodiles.

Local farmers have suffered severe economic losses as a result of the deaths.

Each crocodile, according to An, is worth on average VND600,000 (US$30).

Le Minh Hai, a farmer in Phuoc Long Town in Phuoc Long District, said that his family sustained losses of about VND100 million (US$5,260) because of the mass-deaths. His financial estimate included the cost of buying the young crocodiles and feeding them for the last three months.

"I bought little crocodiles from a reliable farm and believed that they would grow well, but nearly 100 little crocodiles died in only three days," he said.

Truong Thanh Mai, a farmer in Vinh Phu Dong Commune, said he took out a VND50 million (US$2,630) bank loan to invest in rearing the two-month-old crocodiles. He said all his stock are now dead.

An blamed the deaths on natural causes.

"The crocodiles died of shock because recently it has rained too much. Moreover, some farmers bought little crocodiles of uncertain origin," he said. The provincial veterinary department is investigating the cause of the deaths.

In the meantime, Nguyen Duy Hung, deputy director of the department, said he had assigned officials to help farmers clean the crocodiles\' cages in a bid to prevent the spread of disease.

"Crocodiles are highly resistant [to infection]. They rarely suffer from fatal diseases, particularly when they are raised in a hygienic environment," Hung said.

Officials also advised farmers on the need to provide crocodiles with sufficient quantities of calcium and glucose.

"Farmers need to keep their sources of water for crocodiles clean, otherwise they are at risk of infection," he added.

Fish deaths

Meanwhile, in the northern province of Hai Duong, more than 216 tonnes of anabas, a fresh-water fish, have died in the past two weeks.

Pham Van Tinh, director of the provincial veterinary department, said 213 households in the province had incurred financial losses as a result.

Most of the fish were being reared in Tu Ky, Kinh Mon, Nam Sach and Chi Linh. Tu Ky districts, where 88,570kg of anabas died, Tinh said.

Doan Ngoc Vinh, a farmer in Dai Dong Commune in Tu Ky District, spent a year raising about 2,000 anabas, which he kept in a 3,000-sq.m pond. He spent VND50 million (US$2,630) on fish feed.

"The anabas reached a total weight of more than two tonnes. I was looking to sell them at the end of this month but all of them are now dead. They died within the space of four days."

Nguyen Xuan Can, a farmer in Dan Chu Commune, said he was shocked by the mass deaths.

"I have been raising anabas for nearly 20 years. I have never seen them die en mass like this," Can said.

Vu Dinh Quan, head of Nghia Dung Village in Dai Dong Commune, said all the anabas being raised in roughly 12,000sq.m of ponds in the village were now dead.

"Anabas came to the surface of the ponds, swam around in circles and then died. Their fins and gills were bleeding," Quan added.

Officials from the provincial veterinary department have joined forces with the Centre for Environment and Disease Monitoring in Aquaculture (CEDMA) to investigate the cause of the deaths.

"Tests showed that the anabas were infected with the Streptococcus Agalactiae bacterium, which damaged their eyes," Tinh said.

"CEDMA concluded that the fish died of bleeding disease," Tinh said.

The province\'s veterinary department, together with officials from the district\'s Agriculture and Rural Development Division, have been tasked with giving farmers advice on disease control, Tinh said.

"We have also told farmers how best to treat sick anabas," he added.