China's island-building in the South China Sea and the disputes with its neighbors are directly and indirectly causing irreparable environmental damage as vibrant coral reefs vanish and unregulated fishing threatens one of the world's biggest fisheries.
A new report in National Geographic examines how the dispute has pushed hundreds of thousands of fishermen into overfishing because the territorial disputes between China and six other countries have made it unclear who is in charge of any given fishery. For fishermen to follow the regulations for any given nation — whether it's China, Indonesia or the Philippines — would essentially acknowledge the claims of that power to the fishery and, thus, the territory.
"It’s unclear whose laws you’re enforcing when you have seven overlapping sets of fisheries laws," Gregory Poling, a Center for Strategic and International Studies analyst, told National Geographic. "States have a vested interest in purposely violating fishing laws of other states."
When countries have tried to enforce their laws, those actions have brought on confrontations with the Chinese coast guard and paramilitary forces.
China's land reclamation has further threatened the fisheries and the food source for millions of people who live in the region. China has been building islands atop reefs to bolster its claims to resources rights — including fisheries — in the South China Sea; an international panel in July dismissed China's claims to territory based on building islands atop reefs and outcroppings, such as in the Spratly islands.
The report highlights how China’s dredging is disrupting the interconnected reef system that provides habitat and food for dozens of fish species.
"Island building grinds up corals for use as foundation material, smothers reefs that become the base of islands, and creates sediment plumes that suffocate nearby reefs," the report reads, going on to quote an expert who claims that the building and dredging is causing "serious decline" in about half the reefs.
You can read the whole report here:
David B. Larter was the naval warfare reporter for Defense News.
