HANOI, Vietnam — A fisherman casts his line from a wooden jetty on West Lake (Ho Tay), Hanoi's largest freshwater lake. Thick haze obscures the distant shoreline of the 500-hectare lake. Environmental concerns persist about water quality and fish consumption from Hanoi's urban lakes due to significant pollution levels.
Photograph by David Coleman. West Lake (Ho Tay or Hồ Tây in Vietnamese), covering approximately 500 hectares in Hanoi's Tay Ho District, stands as the city's largest freshwater lake. Despite ongoing water quality concerns, the lake continues to support traditional fishing practices among local residents. Environmental studies have documented significant pollution levels in Hanoi's urban waterways, resulting from decades of rapid urbanization, industrial development, and inadequate wastewater treatment infrastructure. West Lake receives water from the Red River and surrounding urban runoff, contributing to accumulated contamination that affects aquatic life. The practice of fishing continues as part of local tradition and subsistence, though public health officials caution about consuming fish from urban lakes due to potential contamination. The wooden jetties extending into the lake represent traditional fishing infrastructure that has existed for generations, even as the surrounding area has transformed into one of Hanoi's most affluent districts.
Size: 4288px × 2848px
Location: West Lake, Hanoi, Vietnam
Photo credit: © David Coleman | Have Camera Will Travel / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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