What’s On The Scarborough Shoal That Attracts Filipino Fishermen?
Scarborough Shoal is the disputed waters between China and Philippines. What is it in the shoal, why do Filipino fishermen keep going back at the Panatag?
Panatag shoal is a rich fishing ground where high-value fish species such as lapu-lapu (grouper), maya-maya (red snapper), and tanigue (narrow-barred Spanish mackerel) can be found on the shoal’s 150-square-kilometer lagoon.
On Saturday (October 29, 2016), the crew of fishing vessel Ruvina 3 returned and confirmed that Chinese Coast Guard vessel had already allowed Filipino fishermen to enter that disputed shoal.
In 2012, China seized the triangular chain of reefs and rocks, 240 kilometers southwest of Infanta. Chief of the National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center, Westly Rosario said that the shoal is abundant of high-value fish species and the shoal was free from diseases.
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