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Anonymous ID: 14e5ec Oct. 18, 2020, 8:36 p.m. No.11146163   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6199 >>6224 >>6428 >>6474 >>6546 >>6779

Watching The Waters..

 

South China Sea warning: Fishing on verge of ‘irreversible collapse’ amid China tensions.

 

THE SOUTH CHINA SEA is home to more than 100,000 square miles of extremely biodiverse coral reefs which experts have warned is in danger due to overfishing and territorial disputes.

The South China Sea is now believed to be the highest biodiversity place on earth, according to marine biologist John McManus. He said there is about 570 species of coral in the region and this high level brings thousands of species of fish.

Professor McManus is urging local governments to establish a regulatory authority to stop the destruction of offshore reefs and clamp down on overfishing.

It comes as an army chief warned that China is creating a “potential flash point” in the disputed waters with its military force.

Last week, Philippine Army General Gilbert Gapay told reporters that China’s aggressive posturing is creating a risk that other countries will go into conflict in the South China Sea.

Speaking at a forum, he said: “It’s very tense. The situation has now become more tense because China is conducting its own unilateral exercises. It even fired its own missile.

 

“It is really a potential flash point in this part of the globe.”

 

Territorial disputes in the South China Sea have made it difficult for marine scientists to access the coral reefs to take on vital research.

 

Professor McManus of Marine Biology and Fisheries at the University of Miami, told Express.co.uk:

People rarely go there because they might get rammed and sunk by the Chinese missile destroyers that patrol the area

He explained how about 12 to 15 percent of the world’s fish catch comes from the South China Sea and that scientists believe most of the region “is on the verge of [a fishery] collapse”.

He added: "Collapse is a very serious and nearly irreversible thing."

 

Some of South China’s reefs have already permanently been destroyed due to the building of military bases on top of them.

 

There are 70 military outposts in the Spratly Islands alone, according to Professor McManus.

 

Professor McManus said that an estimated 90 percent of the remaining reefs in the disputed waters requires immediate attention to preserve the environment.

But he warns that nobody can actually access the South China Sea to discover all the information needed to protect the region.

 

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1349374/south-china-sea-news-coral-reef-destruction-military-conflict-fishing-latest-ont