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. |
Lawyer, 50, who paid off her tax bill with client's £132,000 divorce settlement avoids jail49ers GM hopes to get Brandon Aiyuk contract extension done sooner rather than laterJury: BNSF Railway contributed to 2 deaths in Montana townMatt Ryan calls it a career. The quarterback officially announces his retirementArizona judge declares mistrial in the case of a rancher accused of fatally shooting a migrantMinnesota state senator arrested on suspicion of burglaryArizona judge declares mistrial in the case of a rancher accused of fatally shooting a migrantWest Virginia confirms first measles case since 2009NCAA ratifies immediate eligibility for athletes no matter how many times they switch schoolsWest Virginia confirms first measles case since 2009