There are nine times more endangered species of sea life in Vietnam than there were in 1989, according to statistics from the country’s Ministry of Fisheries reported in the New Hanoi newspaper. The number of species at risk has grown from 15 to 135. In 1989, 35 percent of Vietnam’s coral reefs were healthy; that figure has plummeted to between 5 and 7 percent. Overfishing and ocean pollution are two of the bigger problems confronting the sea life. The ministry recently proposed a plan to establish 15 sea reserves by 2010.
