Philippines blames China for loss of giant clams in disputed shoal and urges environmental inquiry
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.
Related articles
Cruise worker 'murders newborn son on board ship': Shocked co
A cruise worker on board an Italian ship 'murdered her newborn son' as horrified co-workers raised t2024-05-21EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: How Pippa Middleton revealed Kate's secret chutney recipe
Jam maker Meghan isn't the only royal producer of preserves. Kate makes a mean chutney, a jar of whi2024-05-21- I'm not afraid of anyone- with one exception. Tax inspectors.Here's why I've lost sleep, developed e2024-05-21
Biden administration moves to make conservation an equal to industry on US lands
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration on Thursday finalized a new rule for public land man2024-05-21Insider Q&A: CIA's chief technologist's cautious embrace of generative AI
Knowledge advantage can save lives, win wars and avert disaster. At the Central Intelligence Agency,2024-05-21India election 2024: Hindu nationalism is mainstream thanks to 10 years of PM Modi
AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — Hindu nationalism, once a fringe ideology in India, is now mainstream. Nobod2024-05-21
atest comment