"This will have serious consequences for Vietnam's sensitive coastal habitats and already overexploited marine resources," WWF said in a statement on the sidelines of a conference here on the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

Vietnam is one of the worst affected of 10 Asian countries tackling the bird flu outbreak, with 14 human deaths and around 37.5 million birds having died or been culled.

"The bird flu outbreak is a disaster for Vietnam on many levels, most importantly the serious impacts on human health," said Nick Cox, of the WWF's Indochina Programme.

"But there also could be severe long-term economic and environmental consequences. The disease could lead to even greater pressure on coastal and marine fisheries, and increased demands to convert sensitive coastal habitats, such as mangroves, into fish farming operations."

WWF said despite an 86 percent increase in Vietnam's fishing fleet during the last 10 years, the fish catch per vessel has declined dramatically.

This has led to the rapid growth of aquaculture -- the farming of fish and shellfish -- often at the expense of natural landscapes, it said.

Marine conservation is a central theme at the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which aims to protect the world's plant and animal life from the ravages of human development.

TERRA.WIRE