Vietnam boasts nearly 12,000 marine species

Editor/Mohamed shihab

Scientists have found nearly 12,000 Vietnamese marine creature species, including animals and plants, through studying the country’s marine biological resources, reported the Vietnam News Agency.
The study, carried out in three periods (before 1954, from 1954 to 1975 and from 1976 to now), proved that Vietnamese seafood sources are diversified, including over 2,000 fishes, nearly 6,000 benthic animals, 653 seaweed species, five tortoise species and 12 species of sea snakes.
It defined the distribution zone, reserves and exploitation potential of several groups of marine creatures with high economic value such as fish, shrimp and cuttlefish. Reserves of benthic fish and pelagic fish were from 3.0 to 3.5 million tonnes (not including distant migration pelagic fish and fish living in near islands), with exploitation potential of 1.5 to 1.7 million tonnes.