Uncategorized

South China Sea heading for troubled waters, scientists warn

Overfishing, habitat loss and land-based pollution are among the factors destroying the environment of the South China Sea, marine scientists have warned, posing a threat to future food supplies.

In a decade the sea has lost 16% of its coral reefs and coastal mangroves and 30% of its sea grass, the UN says. The exploitation of

its fisheries by family boats and industrial deep sea trawlers now threatens to deplete fish stocks that millions of people rely on, AP reports.

"The key issues on a basin scale are habitat degradation and loss, overfishing and land-based pollution," the news agency reported Vo Si
Tuan, Vietnam representative to the UN Environment Programme South China Sea Project, as saying.

About 350 million people live along the sea’s coastal areas.

See full story