December 16, 2009
Vietnam aquaculture suffers from climate change
The total yield of aquatic products in the Mekong River will decrease by 50%, or 200,000 tonnes each year due to climate change and the construction of 19 dams alongside the river.
Southern Institute for Water Resources Planning president Nguyen Ngoc Anh stressed that agriculture and aquaculture area in the Mekong Delta region will also be heavily affected by rising seawater levels while the river water flow is being controlled in the upstream.
Anh added that climate change and stopped water flow will result in changes in ecosystems and put most fishes on brink of extinction.
The Mekong river, the third longest in Asia with a length of 4,900 km, flows through five countries including China, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam and provides 400,000 tonnes of fish for 300 million residents living alongside.
China has a plan to build eight hydropower plants, four of which will operate in the near future while other nations plan to build 11 dams.
