MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines blamed Chinese fishermen on Monday for a massive loss of giant clams in a disputed shoal controlled by China’s coast guard in the South China Sea and urged an international inquiry into the amount of environmental damage in the area.
The Philippine coast guard presented surveillance photographs of Chinese fishermen harvesting large numbers of giant clams for a number of years in a lagoon at Scarborough Shoal, but said signs of such activities stopped in March 2019.
Parts of the surrounding coral appeared to be badly scarred, in what the coast guard said was apparently a futile search by the Chinese for more clams. The lagoon is a prominent fishing area which Filipinos call Bajo de Masinloc and the Chinese calll Huangyan Dao off the northwestern Philippines.
“Those were the last remaining giant clams that we saw in Bajo de Masinloc,” Philippine coast guard spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said at a news conference.
'The Apprentice,' about a young Donald Trump, premieres in Cannes
56.4 pct of China's postgraduates hold professional degrees
News organizations urge Biden and Trump to commit to presidential debates during the 2024 campaign
Spread of flu more prevalent than COVID
Bella Hadid goes braless in a thigh
Uruguayan businessman savors success of meat trade in China
Werder Bremen accuses Naby Keita of walking out on the team for Leverkusen game
Analysis: Larson enters conversation with Verstappen as best drivers in the world
Supreme Court rejects an appeal from a Canadian man once held at Guantanamo
Guideline unveiled to make public use of autonomous driving vehicles safer