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.
'Constantly learning' Imanaga off to impressive start with the Chicago Cubs
Xi's article on cultural heritage, fine traditional Chinese culture to be published
Presidium of China's annual legislative session holds 3rd meeting
Microsoft invests $1.5 billion in AI firm G42, overseen by UAE's national security adviser
‘The Blue Angels,’ filmed for IMAX, puts viewers in the ‘box’ with the elite flying squad
Chinese lawmakers submit 298 proposals to annual legislative session
11 people related to Moscow terror attack detained
Kate Hudson hits the stage to debut songs from her new album Glorious at star
Coverage of China's basic medical insurance stable
With Djokovic awaiting the winner, Murray trails Hanfmann at rain
Former Marine sentenced to 9 years in prison for firebombing California Planned Parenthood clinic