Source: Xinhua News Agency, 25 May 2000 [edited]
China Facing Growing Impact of Red Tides
China has been experiencing increasing red tides off the Chinese coast
since the 1990s due to increasing pollution caused by industrial waste
water, according to an official report.
During the past decade, a total of 200 red tides have been registered and
over the past three years there had been 45 major red tides, causing 240
million U.S. dollars in direct economic losses, the recently issued annual
report by the State Oceanic Administration of China said.
The report predicts that about 20 to 30 red tides are expected to occur
this year in the coastal sea waters, compared with 19 last year. The report
is based on the results of China's largest survey of 2.68 million sq. km of
sea waters under its jurisdiction.
The 45 major red tides occurred in the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, the East
China Sea and the South China Sea. Most of them took place in the seas off
the coasts of Guangdong, Shandong, Zhejiang and Liaoning provinces and
Shanghai. About 4 billion tons of industrial waste water are discharged
annually into the sea, resulting in the accumulation of organic pollutants
blamed for the growing outbreaks of disastrous red tides, the
administration said. Red tides may also destroy marine lives and bring harm
to marine cultivation industries.
China has monitored a large red tide spotted last week off the coast of
east China's Zhejiang Province, the first discovered this year in Chinese
waters. The red tide covered 1000 sq. km in the Zhoushan area between the
north latitude of 28 and 29 degrees.
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