Mark Powell, World Wildlife Fund ( WWF) global seafood coordinator said Wednesday WWF will immediately remove Vietnamese catfish out of the Red List in WWF Guide Handbook for seafood consumption in 2010-2011.

Powell made the remarks at a press conference held?in Hanoi Wednesday by Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) and WWF.

The WWF will also advise consumers to continue to use Vietnamese catfish and WWF will further promote cooperation with Vietnam in boosting sustainable development in catfish growing and processing in Vietnam, said Powell.

Nguyen Huu Dung, vice president of VASEP said at the press conference that Vietnam welcomes WWF's decision to remove Vietnamese catfish from the red list and Vietnam expects more cooperation opportunities with WWF in the coming time.

Earlier on Dec. 3, the WWF named Vietnam's catfish in the Red List included in WWF Guide Handbook for seafood consumption in 2010-2011.

The Vietnamese government and VASEP have conducted strong opposition campaigns against WWF's decision.

In the first ten months this year, Vietnam earned 1.15 billion U.S dollars from shipping 538,000 tons of catfish to world markets.