China completes fishery survey in South China Sea

　　GUANGZHOU, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- China has completed a survey offishery resources in the middle and southern regions of the SouthChina Sea after two years of research, said a Chinese expert onMonday.

　　The survey showed the area around the Nansha Islands has fisheryreserves of about 1.8 million tonnes, with about half a milliontonnes available for fishing, said Yang Beisheng, deputy head ofthe South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute under the ChineseAcademy of Fishery Sciences.

　　More than 20 fish species in the Nansha Islands maritime areaare rare or have a high economic value, according to theinvestigation.

　　Mesopelagic fishery reserves in the waters around the Zhongshaand Xisha Islands stand between 73 million and 172 milliontonnes.

　　The institute has carried out eight survey trips to the SouthChina Sea using the country's first domestically produced advancedmaritime fishery survey ship, the Nan Feng, since 2013. Enditem