Jonathan Hanitzsch (centre) and his friends resting after collecting trash off the coast of Hon Mot Island.
THE gentle waves off central Vietnam’s Nha Trang coast obscure an open secret: the coral reefs below are dying.
Once teeming with fish, the waters now seem eerily empty. The ocean’s bounty is fading.
Binh Van, who fished these waters for over two decades, now charters his boat for tourists seeking the thrill of deep-sea fishing. But there’s little to catch beyond squid, which thrives in warming waters.
His passengers, mesmerised by Nha Trang’s shimmering coastline, don’t seem to mind. But Van does.
He recalls a time when he’d return with 70kg of tuna and grouper in a single night. Those days are gone.
“I usually go home empty-handed,” he says.
South-East Asia’s coral reefs form over a third of the world’s reefs, part of the “Coral Triangle” stretching from the Philippines to Indonesia and the Solomon Islands.
But most are at risk.
In Vietnam, only one percent remain healthy, largely due to their remoteness, according to the World Resources Institute.
Rising sea temperatures and acidification weaken corals, triggering mass bleaching.
When corals expel the algae they depend on, they lose colour and struggle to recover.
Frequent bleaching events leave little time for regeneration, says Clint Oakley, a coral researcher at Victoria University of Wellington.
“It takes more than a year for them to fully recover,” he explains.
But climate change is just one factor.
(Left) Trash visible near a blue sea star off the coast of Nha Trang. — AP
Vietnam’s booming economy and coastal development have taken a toll.
Construction runoff clouds the water with sediment, while pollution from agriculture, sewage and aquaculture fuels algal blooms that block sunlight and suffocate reefs.
Overfishing has decimated fish populations that help maintain reef health.
By 2019, an outbreak of predatory crown-of-thorns starfish – enabled by the reef’s ecological imbalance – had devoured nearly 90% of the remaining corals, says marine ecologist Konstantin Tkachenko of Russia’s Samara University, who has studied Vietnam’s reefs for years.
The disappearance of coral reefs threatens not just fish stocks but also Vietnam’s lucrative tourism industry.
Once a magnet for divers, Nha Trang’s underwater scenery is now infamous for its waste – glass bottles from beachfront parties, nylon fishing lines and plastic debris.
Michael Blum of Rainbow Divers, a Vietnam-based diving company, has noticed the decline.
Key reef-cleaning fish, such as Picasso triggerfish and beaked Indian parrotfish, have vanished.
“When you don’t have the cleaners, the reefs suffocate,” he says.
Since October, he and fellow divers have been collecting underwater trash every Friday, removing over 100kg of waste.
For tourists like Niecey Alexander, who began diving in December, the scale of the crisis was a revelation.
“It wasn’t until I was underwater that I realised how small the world above is compared to the vast ocean,” she says.
Tourism and conservation can coexist, says Emma Camp, a coral expert at the University of Technology Sydney.
“Well-managed tourism can help protect marine environments by fostering appreciation and funding conservation,” she explains.
But unchecked tourism can cause harm. Too many visitors, careless divers, and boats dropping anchors on reefs all contribute to coral degradation.
Vietnam is banking on tourism for economic recovery, aiming for 23 million international visitors and 120 million domestic trips by 2025. By comparison, Thailand is targeting 40 million international arrivals.
Yet sustaining tourism depends on preserving Vietnam’s natural beauty.
In 2001, Vietnam designated a 160sq km marine protected area near Nha Trang.
However, problems persist, including destructive fishing practices, rapid coastal development, and excessive tourism.
In 2022, local authorities temporarily closed tourist sites to allow reef recovery, removing predatory starfish and clearing waste from the seabed.
The government has also approved a coral nursery project to restore ecosystems.
Despite these measures, illegal fishing within the marine park remains rampant.
“We chase fishing boats away in the morning, but by afternoon, they’re back,” Blum says.
Tkachenko believes Vietnam must do more – establishing enforceable marine parks, restoring coastal vegetation to prevent sediment runoff, rebuilding reefs through coral cultivation and imposing stricter fisheries regulations.
As he surveys the countless fishing boats dotting Nha Trang’s waters, Tkachenko poses a sobering question: “What chance does any tiny fish or sea creature have under such relentless pressure?” — AP
