The South China Sea is a huge extension of the Pacific Ocean, bordered by China and Vietnam in the west, Taiwan and the Philippines in the east, and Malaysia and Indonesia in the south. As explained by Britannica, in the South China Sea exists many submerged river valleys; these valleys have given the body of water various types of special sediments, such as mud around the Mekong Delta, clay in the deeper waters, and volcanic ash scattered throughout the sea, following the famous 1883 eruption of the Krakatoa volcano.
Over millions of years, the South China sea dropped about 2.5 miles (or 4 kilometers), leaving residual plateaus filled with numerous coral reefs, islets, and banks. According to National Geographic, the South China Sea has one of the most diverse coral reefs on Earth. Unfortunately, this also attracts a lot of poachers.
The South China basin is home to some 3,300 species of fish, but over 16 million tons are fished every year, and on top of that, poachers go to extreme lengths (e.g., dynamite fishing, reports the Observer Research Foundation) to secure the biggest clams and whatever species is on demand at a given time, per National Geographic. Needless to say, this destroys coral reefs and whole food chains.
In fact, more of the South China Sea's reefs were eradicated by clam poaching than by China's island-building. Thankfully, China is slowly taking measures to prevent poaching.
