Why are Chinese fishermen destroying coral reefs in the South China Sea?
(Spoiler: Because it's profitable and China doesn't give a fuck.)
> This place had once been a rich coral ecosystem. Now the sea floor was covered in a
> thick layer of debris, millions of smashed fragments of coral, white and dead like
> bits of bone.
> I swam on and on. In every direction the destruction stretched for hundreds of metres,
> piles and piles of shattered white coral branches. It seemed so illogical. Why would
> fishermen, even poachers, destroy a whole coral system like this?
> Then, down below me, I spotted two of the poachers, wearing masks and trailing long
> breathing hoses behind them. They were manhandling something heavy.
> As they struggled up the sandy underwater slope, through a stream of bubbles, I caught
> sight of what they were carrying - a massive giant clam, at least 1m (3ft) across.
> They dropped it on to a pile near their boat. Next to it lay three others they had pulled
> out earlier. Clams of this size are probably 100 years old, and - as I discovered later
> on an internet auction site - can sell for between $1,000 (£665) and $2,000 a pair.
> On board the big boats I could see hundreds of clam shells stacked high.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35106631
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