Viet Nam is urgently seeking ways of sustaining its marine economy as climate change warms and raises sea levels - and, together with massive pollution, continues to destroy the nation’s 110,000 hectares of coral reefs.
The marine economy now contributes about 48 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and there are plans to raise this to 53-55 per cent by 2020. It includes industries related to trade and investment in seafood products, ship and boat building, water transport and tourism.
Climate change, overfishing and pollution is blamed for a reduction in fish species and their retreat to deeper-sea regions, said the president of the Viet Nam Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment, Tran Thuc.
And, he added, there appeared to be a connection between a decrease in the income of local fishermen and the more frequent appearance of tropical storms caused by the changes.
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