South China Sea tensions will rise in the long-term as China exhausts its near-shore fisheries and continues to push outward to secure further stocks. In Asia, consumption of fish will increase with population and industrialization, boosting pressure on claimant countries to control their waters. Fishing vessels will continue to spark short, sharp crises and risk further upset to the delicate balance in Asia’s disputed waters. in national diets (and national food security), seafood also plays an important economic role.

Fish: the overlooked destabilizer in the South China Sea. (2016, February 15). Manila Times, p. A6.