When it comes to the South China Sea, international media have focused in recent months on the conflicts among nations making claims to disputed territory there. That’s understandable when Chinese fighter planes buzz American reconnaissance planes and a Chinese general challenges the United States’ espousal of the freedom of navigation in the sea. But Western scientists say that the vast waterway’s degraded marine environment deserves attention as well. Some say that parts of the marine environment are facing collapse. This is important because millions of people depend on fish from the South China Sea as their main source of protein.
