The Nha Trang Institute of Oceanography of central coastal Khanh Hoa province has  applied technology in changing the colour of seahorses, which are naturally black.

The institute was successful in rearing rare and valuable yellow seahorses, said Dr. Truong Si Ky, a sea-horse expert. A trial red-colour seahorse project, which is currently underway, has achieved good results. 

Made-in-Vietnam seahorses, which are mostly raised in Khanh Hoa, are considered to be of high quality, according to Dr. Ky. Singapore, America and certain European countries are the key markets for Vietnam's seahorse exports. The number of ornamental seahorses exported is currently between 5,000 to10,000 per month. 

However, Vietnam's seahorse producers have not found access to mainland Chinese and Hong Kong markets, which demand seahorses for medicinal use.

Vietnam's fisheries industry is making plans for rearing seahorse and enhancing transfer of technology to the community for sustainable development.