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.
Storms damage homes in Oklahoma and Kansas. But in Houston, most power is restored
TOWIE star Vas J Morgan cuts a casual figure as he steps out in his own activewear brand
'Classless' fan heckles at wrestler Jordan Burrough at US Olympic trials
Top procuratorate reports legal oversight work in 2023
Inquiry slams UK authorities for failures that killed thousands in infected blood scandal
Sizzling Scottie Scheffler holds five
Miles Russell's historic week continues as 15
A warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest was requested. But no decision was made about whether to issue it
'The Apprentice,' about a young Donald Trump, premieres in Cannes
Nearly 100 Belarus political prisoners have severe medical problems, rights group says