by Playfuls Staff |
17th August 2006
The East China Sea, a major fishing ground, is dying from pollution and overfishing, according to an environmental report published Thursday. [more]
More than 80 per cent of the East China Sea, skirted by China, South Korea and Japan, was rated as the second worst category on a five-tier scale, according to a survey by environmental officials from China's Zhejiang province published in the Shanghai Daily.
Six years ago the figure was 53 per cent. The primary pollutants are petrochemical waste and heavy metals, according to the report.
In 2005 local catches were around 980,000 tons, reduced from 1.3 million tons in 2001 and the fish are of a poorer quality. The dwindling stock has also reduced the number of people employed in the fishing industry by 40,000 to 210,000, the paper said.
The East China Sea's fish stocks provide a 10th of China's total catch.
© 2006 DPA
