The country faces a decline in fisheries production amid a study conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies that China has destroyed at least 21,000 acres of coral reefs in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), an expert from the University of the Philippines-Marine Science Institute (UP-MSI) warned yesterday. “The immediate effect of the destruction of coral reefs and the devastation of the habitats of fish is the decline in the production of our fish,” UP-MSI assistant professor Mike Atrigeneo said in a radio interview. He explained that the worst case scenario could be the extinction of fish dependent on coral reefs.

Cariaso, B., Ong, G., & Punongbayan, M. (2024, February 24). 'China destroyed 21,000 acres of WPS coral reefs'. The Philippine Star, p. 2.