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.
Real Madrid wins the Spanish league after Barcelona loses at Girona
Kate Hudson makes TV debut performing as singer on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Six Million Dollar Man star Lee Majors, is 85! See how great the actor
I hosted puppy yoga and my house ended up stinking of poo
Elon Musk gets approval from FDA to implant his Neuralink brain chip into a second patient
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
Socialite Jasmine Hartin enjoys beach snuggle with electrician hunk
Ashley Graham and Sam Smith go head