South China Sea Fisheries: Countdown to Calamity

Abstract

With the increasing economic value of fisheries, coupled with above-average population growth rates, the riparian states bordering the South China Sea are demanding ever increasing amounts of marine production at the expense of the maximum sustainable yield of South China Sea fishery resources. The natural replenishment cycles of fishery resources are being systematically abused, thereby threaten ing future marine production. Reports of poaching and illegal incidences of fishing are becoming more frequent. Demands for greater production and inadequate civil enforcement resources are two contri butory factors. The navies of Southeast Asia are increasingly dedicated to peace-time' functions such as patrolling and enforcing fishing regulations inside territorial waters. Such actions reinforce the conventional wisdom that the South China Sea remains a potential flashpoint of violence.