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Vietnam's coral reefs dying fast, marine scientists warn
2006-10-22
Vietnamese marine scientists warn that one of the country's premier coral reefs has been nearly destroyed by harmful fishing practices using explosives and poison, reports said. Up to 85 percent of corals had died around Co To Island, near the World Heritage-listed island seascape of Halong Bay, warned the National Agency of Aquatic Resources Protection and a group of oceanographers. Besides dynamite and cyanide fishing, corals were also being crushed by ship anchors and smothered by seaweed that has proliferated due to overfishing, said Chu Tien Vinh, head of the agency, the online news site VnExpress reported. The group of researchers proposed the Quang Ninh provincial fisheries department ban fishing and prevent ships from anchoring around the Co To archipelago, the report said. Vietnam, with a 3,200 kilometre (1,984 mile) coastline, has boasted a rich and diverse marine ecology with 1,100 square kilometres (440 square miles) of reefs, but the World Resources Institute has warned that over 95 percent of it is severely threatened. Destructive human activities include overfishing, coastal developments for tourism and industry, pollution and sedimentation, and fishing practices such as drift net fishing that scours the ocean floor. Vietnamese scientists last week also called for the setting up of a marine reserve around southern Phu Quoc island, to save the coral and marine life around the island that is now being rapidly developed for tourism. Scientists say the An Thoi archipelago south of Phu Quoc has about 125 hectares (308 acres) of coral reefs and 250 hectares of sea grass and supports marine life including dolphins, sea turtles and the endangered dugong. "People are becoming more aware of the impact of fishing on the sea," said Dominic Scriven, a British investment fund manager who also runs the Wildlife At Risk conservation group and part-owns a Phu Quoc ecotourism project. "Having felt that the sea was just a place with loads of fish, they are now seeing that a protected marine environment can help the people, and that the people can help the environment."
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