HÀ NỘI – Việt Nam has identified over 1,080 species of marine fish, including many highly economically valuable creatures such as the skipjack tuna, Japanese horse mackerel, yellowtail scad, largehead hairtail (or beltfish), ariid catfish, among others.

The findings were presented to a conference entitled Reporting Results of the Investigation of Marine Fish Resource and Orienting the Exploitation of Marine Fishes in Việt Nam’s sea in Hà Nội on Thursday.

The species were discovered through a nation-wide investigation by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Directorate of Fisheries.

The Research Institute for Marine Fisheries said the major targets of the investigation were big pelagic fishes in all offshore sea areas in the central and southeast regions and small pelagic fishes in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the  Tonkin Gulf, in the south-eastern and south-western regions.

Currrently, big pelagic fish including Scombridae, black marlin, wahoo, and Indo-Pacific Spanish mackerel are key subjects of offshore fishing in Việt Nam, providing high economic value and an important source for exports, according to the Khánh Hòa Fisheries Association.

The investgiation shows that a total of 1,081 species of marine fishes were detected in Việt Nam’s sea, consisting of 881 fish species, 115 crustaceans; 41 types of cephalopod (head-feed), and 44 of other groups.

The quantity of fish, shrimp, crab, squid, and octopus under the investigated sea areas is estimated around 4.36 million tonnes.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vũ Văn Tám said: “Based on results of the investigation of marine fish resource in the 2011-15 period,  orientations to exploit the fish on sea areas--as well as measures to conserve, protect and develop the resources--have been proposed, ensuring that the exploitation and use of the fish will be both adequate and sustainable in order to help restructure of the fishery sector and integrate the East Asia region under the framework of Sustainable Development Strategy for the seas of East Asia.” — VNS