One of the least-read portions of The Arbitral Tribunal ruling involves the failure of the Chinese government to prevent its nationals from exploiting the Philippines’ living resources and its interference with the country’s sovereign rights in its Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf as China pursues its construction of artificial islands and occupation of several maritime portions within the sovereign domain of the Philippines. This column is the first of a multipart series focusing on the negative impact on different aspects of the marine environment as a consequence of China’s claims of historic rights over the West Philippine Sea as discussed by The Arbitral Tribunal. We start with the fishing ban by China which, as recorded by the Philippine Government, started in May 2012 when the Fisheries Bureau of Nanhai District announced a fishing moratorium in the South China Sea.

La Viña, T. (2015, July 30). Fisheries and environment in the West Philippine Sea. Manila Standard, p. A5.