Vast fisheries in the South China Sea are in danger of collapsing in the next decade, as production has reached a plateau, a maritime expert warned on Monday. “Based on available data from different sources, fisheries in the West Philippine Sea as well as the entire South China Sea are in danger of collapse within the next decade or so,” Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and the Law of the Sea, said in a policy forum held at the Bayleaf Hotel in Manila. Batongbacal said the state of South China Sea fisheries was alarming, as “in cases of fishery production, when it peaks and plateaus, it is usually followed by a sudden collapse.”

Mangosing, F. G. (2018, July 11). China's harvesting of corals, clams perils fisheries in disputed sea. Philippine Daily Inquirer, pp. A1, A6.