Philippines blames China for loss of giant clams in disputed shoal

Chinese service boats scour the seabed as they search for giant clams in the Scarborough shoal in 2019 (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)

The Philippines has blamed Chinese fishermen 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 caused 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.