The striped fish is a catfish with scientific name (Pangasius macronema), this is a fish with high economic value in the market. Photo: Le Hoang Vu. In the framework of the Science and Technology project, a group of researchers from the Faculty of Fisheries (Can Tho University) and graduate student Tran Dong Phuong An, for the first time successfully artificially reproduced freshwater striped fish. The striped fish is a catfish with scientific name (Pangasius macronema), this is a fish with high economic value in the market. Currently, this fish species occurs in the wild quite few and concentrated in provinces such as An Giang, Dong Thap, Vinh Long and Can Tho city. In order to develop the economy, recently, many farmers in some provinces in the upstream of the Mekong River have caught fish in the wild and brought back to raise them in rafts on the Tien and Hau rivers with industrial food for sale. commodity. Currently, striped fish is sold in the market at a high price of 120,000 – 130,000 VND/kg, while in restaurants the price is from 250,000 to 300,000 VND/kg. For the first time, successfully artificially reproduced freshwater striped fish. Photo: Le Hoang Vu. According to the project team, after nearly 4 years of research, this is the first time to successfully stimulate artificial reproduction of striped fish and it is expected that this breed will be replicated and provided to farmers in 2023. This was approved by the City Department of Science and Technology. Sponsored by Can Tho.

Works on display in the exhibition Lam Duc Hien makes the 4,200km journey along the Mekong River, from the bustling, life-filled tropical lower reaches of the Mekong Delta to upstream Tibet where snow is white all year round. This cross-continental journey has a special meaning to him – the French-Vietnamese photographer was born and raised on the banks of the Mekong River in Laos, affectionately known as the Mother River. In the series of pictorial narratives, individual memories blend with the collective memories of people who live by and rely on the river. Here, the Mekong River is both a boundary and a link between lands, cultures and peoples. Lam Duc Hien was born in 1966 on the banks of the Mekong River, which flows through the town of Pakse in the south of Laos. He arrived in France in 1977 after living for two years in a refugee camp in Thailand. Lam Duc Hien has documented the aftermath of the greatest conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries in many countries around the world, including Romania, Russia, Bosnia, Chechnya, Rwanda, South Sudan and, most significantly, Iraq, where he engaged for more than 25 years. He has won many photography awards, including prestigious awards such as Leica Award, Great European Award of Vevey City, World Press Photo, etc. Lam Duc Hien is a member of Agence VU’ photo agency. The exhibition is open until June 11, 2021.

Before flowing to Loei province – a province located on the Thailand-Laos border, the Mekong River’s water had to flow through dozens of other hydroelectric dams, including 11 of China and one of Laos. South China Morning Post On May 25, citing local people and experts, the hydroelectric dams of China and Laos have affected fish habitats, changing the natural flow with the seasons and even the color of the water. . The impact is becoming more and more obvious Rodjana Thepwong, a 64-year-old woman with a lovely smile, said gold panders in Thailand often wade into the middle of the river during the dry season. “The sediment at the bottom of the river is full of gold. I’ve even found pieces of gold as small as tamarind seeds,” she said, plunging into the river with a pickaxe, brushing away the mud and rocks. “Because of hydroelectric dams, river water rises and falls randomly, making the ecosystem out of balance. We were forced to move to the river’s edge, where there was only a very small amount of gold.” Ms. Rodjana is just one of 60 million people who depend on the Mekong River – the river that flows from China, through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia before emptying into the delta region of Vietnam. Environmental activists say the diets, livelihoods and environment of these millions have been put in jeopardy since Chinese companies harnessed hydroelectricity. One fine day, these two women were able to find $15 worth of gold. Photo: South China Morning Post. “I realized things were changing, many fish died and the water rose suddenly,” said Chantarasee Hieng, another gold pander. Downstream, experts say, in February, the river suddenly turned blue – a seasonal phenomenon for the first time, indicating that nutrients from silt are gradually disappearing from waterways this. Climate change also plays a role in causing this phenomenon, with heavier rains and prolonged droughts. But both Ms. Rodjana and Hieng insist hydroelectric dams are the main cause of the decline in the quality of the river that was once a source of food and income for many families. “So sad. But what can we do?” Ms. Rodjana said. Hope is forgotten A new dam is scheduled to be built about 2 km from the Chiang Kan district of Loei, the mountainous northeastern province of Thailand. The Sanakham Dam is a $2 billion program with electricity generated for export mainly to Thailand. The dam, built by Chinese company Datang, is expected to generate 684 megawatts of electricity when it comes into operation from 2028. The project is seen as an integral part of its strategy to become “the power source of Southeast Asia. ” of Laos. Gold panders in the Mekong River, Loei province, Thailand. Photo: South China Morning Post. The Mekong River Commission – the commission set up to manage water resources in the Mekong basin, with members Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam – says it has only about $28 million (1.4%) total budget) is devoted to measures to reduce harm to the environment and society. Thailand openly opposes the Lao plan. Residents living in this river area are lobbying the government to stop building the dam, along with public debate about the need for electricity generated by hydropower among officials in the country. Tosapol Wongwan, assistant secretary-general, National Water Resources Office of Thailand, said: “What is happening in the Mekong River has reached a point where it cannot be repaired. What we can do right now is focus on how to reduce the impact (human activities on the river).” Not easy to solve Upstream countries – China and Laos – have begun to share data on water flows and herald the closure and release of dams to their downstream neighbors. However, it is difficult to achieve complete transparency among countries with competing strategic, economic and national security needs. Laos owns two dams – the Thai-developed Xayaburi dam in the north and the Don Sahong dam near the Cambodian border. There are also seven other projects being planned. Mekong River near the Thai-Lao border. Photo: Reuters. Critics say it’s difficult to make a transparent assessment of the uses and impacts of dams on the environment. China, which is speeding up dam construction, insists hydroelectricity is an eco-friendly resource to boost the Mekong’s economy. However, according to Songrit Kirk Pongern, an academic researcher on the Mekong River at Thailand’s Kasetsart University, as dam construction continues, the forecast of a negative impact on the river is ominous. “In the next five years, the consequences will become more and more obvious. The number of fish will continue to decline, the downstream will lack alluvium, riverside and local fishing will disappear, food security for 60 million people will be exhausted,” he said.

According to the National Center for Socio-Economic Information and Forecasting (Ministry of Planning and Investment), the Mekong Delta is the largest agricultural production region of our country, playing an important role in the national economy, especially is in ensuring national food security. However, the Mekong Delta is a coastal lowland area, so every year, the sea water intrudes deeply into the mainland. Saline intrusion is a big challenge in the Mekong Delta. Photo: VGP This phenomenon appears cyclical and usually occurs sharply in the dry season months, from November to May every year. Saline intrusion is often affected by a number of factors such as flow from upstream to the Mekong Delta; flows in rivers, canals in interior fields; the tidal regime in the Mekong Delta; climate change, human impacts in water exploitation and use. In the past 6 years, the Mekong Delta has experienced two record saline intrusion waves, with intense and fierce intensity in 2015/2016 and 2019/2020, leading to a shortage of fresh water. wide, seriously affecting production and people’s daily life … In the dry season 2020/2021, saline intrusion in the Mekong Delta is higher than the average for many years, but not as serious as the dry season in 2019/2020, but the situation is also quite complicated. Up to the end of February 2021, in the Mekong Delta, there appeared 3 times of high saline intrusion, the salinity boundary 4g / l in Vam Co Dong river and Vam Co Tay river is 30-32km lower than the same period in 2020; the 4g / l salinity boundary in the estuaries of the Mekong River is 5-25km lower than that of the same period in 2020; The salinity boundary of 4g / l on Cai Lon river is 10-13km lower than that of the same period in 2020. Salty drought has damaged many areas of rice, fruit trees, aquaculture and vegetables, both agricultural production activities and daily life of the people are negatively affected. Saline intrusion combined with water shortage due to the effects of the saline drought season in 2019/2020 makes the total flow to be less than the average for many years and agricultural production is seriously affected. An estimated 40,000 ha of fruit trees (Tien Giang 19,000 ha, Ben Tre 15,000 ha, Vinh Long 1,800 ha, Soc Trang 3,400 ha) and about 5,000 ha of rice in Tra Vinh province have a shortage of irrigation water. With people’s lives, drought also makes many households seriously lack of water for daily use, even water supplied from clean water plants in urban areas in many provinces also shows signs of salinity. The main cause of saline intrusion in the Mekong Delta in 2020/2021 is attributed to the lack of rainfall, water resources in the upper Mekong River upstream during the 2020 flood season, and the 2020 flood peak at the upstream of the Mekong River on the Tien River. , the Hau river (An Giang province) is at a low level (below alert 1), leading to a shortage of flow in the dry season 2020-2021 from the upper Mekong river delta to the Mekong Delta by 10-20% compared to the average of many years. In addition, the total flow from the upper Mekong River (at Kratie station, Cambodia) to the Mekong Delta is in shortage compared to the average of many years about 5-15%. Solutions to ensure water security According to the National Center for Socio-Economic Forecasting and Information (NCIF), in the coming time, it is necessary to always be prepared with situational solutions to help people cope with urgent drought such as plan to mobilize mobile tank trucks to carry fresh water for households living in scattered, remote, coastal and island areas. Along with that, deploying drilling wells to supplement fresh water sources, extending pipes from concentrated water plants in the freshwater area to supply affected residential areas, installing additional public taps to supply households affected by saline intrusion use. Review, upgrade, expand and extend the pipeline with neighboring works with excess capacity to supply clean water to the people in the affected area. Regularly observe the water level of the reservoir, check the used capacity and the remaining capacity in the reservoir for treatment solutions to adjust irrigation water to suit production reality. Concentrate on investigating and searching underground water sources, especially deep aquifers to serve water supply for daily life in areas frequently subjected to saline water intrusion. Installation of salt water and brackish water filtration systems (RO equipment) in rural centralized domestic water supply schemes that are frequently affected by saline intrusion. To build freshwater reservoirs in dead-end canals and old diversion dams, and temporary dams to prevent salinity to keep fresh water sources for concentrated rural water supply stations. Investing in the construction of closed irrigation systems, implementing projects on dykes, embankments, key irrigation dams to prevent salinity, fresh storage for production and people’s livelihood. Saline intrusion negatively affects agriculture. The next solution is to regularly dredge the inland canals, clear and clear the flow for all canals, repair damaged works, carry out maintenance and repair of machines and equipment. operation, backup pumps to ensure proactive in regulating for irrigation and water pumping when saline drought, efficient operation of freshwater reservoirs. NCIF also believes that it is necessary to promote cooperation in the Mekong-Lan Thuong cooperation mechanism (MLC) on water exploitation and use. The decline in flow in the upper Mekong River leads to drought and saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta, so the water resource management in the Mekong Delta must be associated with the problems of water exploitation and use of 6 a country that shares the Mekong River. Accordingly, it is necessary to promote negotiations so that countries with large hydropower reservoirs, including in the main and tributaries, cooperate in the operation of power generation, water discharge downstream, ensuring flow maintenance. minimum level on the river. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen cooperation with countries experienced in responding to climate change, sea level rise, saltwater intrusion and drought such as the Netherlands, Israel, and Australia to enlist the help of countries and international organizations in coping with drought in particular and climate change in general It is necessary to widely propagate and guide people to implement measures to use water in an economical and efficient manner, especially in irrigation and daily life, to combat wasteful water sources. Encourage people to be proactive in case of water shortage with water storage solutions.