PCG shows pictures of China's alleged destruction to Scarborough Shoal from 2016-2021
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) for the first time exposed images of alleged destruction by Chinese fishermen in Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc) from 2016 to 2021.
In a press briefing held on Monday, PCG Spokesperson on the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela revealed in a presentation that China has been harvesting several natural resources from the shoal, mostly giant clams and puffer fish.
Tarriela said that in 2016, Chinese fishermen continued to illegally harvest giant clams despite the decision of the arbitral tribunal nullifying China's sweeping claim over the South China Sea.
Then, in 2017, he said they reported to the government, including the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS), that Chinese fishermen sometimes abandon their grounded service boats, which would sink and damage coral reefs.
“That’s a clear evidence of being careless. They don't really care about the marine environment. They don’t care if their boats sink and destroy coral reefs,” Tarriela said.
He added that in 2018, they reported that the Chinese Maritime Militia usually goes to Scarborough Shoal from November to December to harvest and retrieve empty giant clams.
“We were able to document giant clams, they have become empty. All that’s left are their shells,” he said.
National Security Council (NSC) Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya called on China to open Scarborough Shoal to determine the damage it caused to the marine environment.
“In order for the world to find out if China indeed has fulfilled its obligations under international law, let us open Bajo de Masinloc to international scrutiny,” Malaya said.
“We can ask third-party environmental groups or even the United Nations to do a fact-finding mission to determine the environmental situation in Bajo de Masinloc,” he added.
Tarriela said that in February 2019, they also recorded Chinese fishing vessels that harvesting small seashells called “samong”.
“For those instances when the Chinese vessel is fully loaded, they just dump them on the seabed and they just retrieve them afterwards. You can just imagine the quantity of these shells that they harvested in Bajo de Masinloc. This is another proof of a pile of giant clams that were harvested in 2019,” he said.
Tarriela said they last documented China harvesting giant clams in March 2019, because it has consumed all of them.
“Let me emphasize that the last time we saw Chinese fishermen doing a giant clam harvest was in 2019. Those were the last remaining giant clams,” he said.
In the following month, China scoured the whole Scarborough Shoal in a “desperate” attempt to find giant clams.
“We can also expect that with this kind of strategy of scouring the entire seabed of the entire lagoon of Bajo de Masinloc, it also destroys the coral reef which is underneath,” Tarriela said.
He said by the last two months of 2021, the Chinese began targeting puffer fish and stingrays from the shoal.
The PCG also documented China harming sea turtles from the shoal in the first quarter of this year. Jaspearl Tan/DMS
