In a decade the sea has lost 16% of its coral reefs and coastal mangroves and 30% of its sea grass, the UN says. The exploitation of
its fisheries by family boats and industrial deep sea trawlers now threatens to deplete fish stocks that millions of people rely on, AP reports.
"The key issues on a basin scale are habitat degradation and loss, overfishing and land-based pollution," the news agency reported Vo Si
Tuan, Vietnam representative to the UN Environment Programme South China Sea Project, as saying.
About 350 million people live along the sea’s coastal areas.
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