Cyanide and blast fishing meet population explosion

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Center for Resources Management and Environmental Studies

Vietnam has lost nearly half its mangroves since the '40s, and its coral reefs are being damaged by sedimentation as well as blast and cyanide fishing. To top it off, high-value coral reefs on the coast of Binh Dinh province are being systematically destroyed by a single village specializing in coral exploitation, the Saigon Times Daily reported in April 1998. The village, Da, is located in neighboring Hai Minh and features 100 laborers working on 20 motorized boats, blasting the coral and collecting it for processing into building materials; they've demolished several thousand-year reefs in less than a decade.