---
title: "Chinese fishing vessels are going scorched earth and pumping cyanide into contested waters, Philippine fishing authority says"
description: "CBRNe World provides those tasked with defending against CBRN and IED threats with the essential practical, scientific and political information. Access the current and previous issues of the magazine by registering as a member."
url: "https://cbrneworld.com/news/subscribers/chinese-fishing-vessels-are-going-scorched-earth-and-pumping-cyanide-into-contested-waters-philippine-fishing-authority-says"
date: "2026-07-30T21:15:46+00:00"
language: "en-GB"
---

#  Chinese fishing vessels are going scorched earth and pumping cyanide into contested waters, Philippine fishing authority says

 Written by Zoe Rutherford on 23 February 2024.

Originally published by Business Insider.

The Philippines' fishing bureau has accused Chinese fishing vessels of using cyanide to destroy Scarborough Shoal, a fish-rich atoll in the South China Sea contested by both Manila and Beijing.

"These Chinese fishermen use cyanide," Nazario Briguera, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, said on Saturday, per a translation from Filipino by [The Philippine Star](https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/02/17/2334104/china-using-cyanide-destroy-scarborough-purpose-bfar).

[Cyanide fishing](https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?5563/Cyanide-an-easy-but-deadly-way-to-catch-fish) is a controversial fishing method that typically involves dumping the highly toxic chemical near coral reefs or in fishing grounds to stun or kill fish so they can be easily captured.

It's widely condemned because it

But Brigeura accused the Chinese fishermen of using cyanide to also "intentionally destroy Bajo de Masinloc to prevent Filipino fishing boats to fish in the area," The Philippine Star noted. Bajo de Masinloc is the Spanish name for Scarborough Shoal.

The spokesperson estimated that the alleged use of cyanide would result in about $17,850,000 in damages to the region, the outlet reported.

[The full article can be read here ](https://www.businessinsider.com/scarborough-shoal-chinese-fishing-vessels-pumping-cyanide-contested-waters-philippines-2024-2?international=true&r=US&IR=T)

 [Chemical](https://cbrneworld.com/component/tags/tag/chemical)

## Schema

```json
{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "News", "item": "https://cbrneworld.com/news" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Subscribers", "item": "https://cbrneworld.com/news/subscribers" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Chinese fishing vessels are going scorched earth and pumping cyanide into contested waters, Philippine fishing authority says", "item": "https://cbrneworld.com/news/subscribers/chinese-fishing-vessels-are-going-scorched-earth-and-pumping-cyanide-into-contested-waters-philippine-fishing-authority-says" } ] }
```

```json
{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "NewsArticle", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://cbrneworld.com/news/subscribers/chinese-fishing-vessels-are-going-scorched-earth-and-pumping-cyanide-into-contested-waters-philippine-fishing-authority-says" }, "headline": "Chinese fishing vessels are going scorched earth and pumping cyanide into contested waters, Philippine fishing authority says", "description": "Originally published by Business Insider.  The Philippines' fishing bureau has accused Chinese fishing vessels of using cyanide to destroy Scarborough Shoal, a fish-rich atoll in the South China Sea contested by both Manila and Beijing. "These Chinese fishermen use cyanide," Nazario Briguera, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, said on Saturday, per a translation from Filipino by The Philippine Star. Cyanide fishing is a controversial fishing method that typically involves dumping the highly toxic chemical near coral reefs or in fishing grounds to stun or kill fish so they can be easily captured. It's widely condemned because it But Brigeura accused the Chinese fishermen of using cyanide to also "intentionally destroy Bajo de Masinloc to prevent Filipino fishing boats to fish in the area," The Philippine Star noted.  Bajo de Masinloc is the Spanish name for Scarborough Shoal. The spokesperson estimated that the alleged use of cyanide would result in about $17,850,000 in damages to the region, the outlet reported. The full article can be read here ", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://cbrneworld.com/" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "CBRNe World Magazine", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://cbrneworld.com/images/default/Asset%201.png" } }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Zoe Rutherford", "url": "https://cbrneworld.com/news/subscribers/chinese-fishing-vessels-are-going-scorched-earth-and-pumping-cyanide-into-contested-waters-philippine-fishing-authority-says" }, "datePublished": "2024-02-23T10:51:51+00:00", "dateCreated": "2024-02-23T10:51:51+00:00", "dateModified": "2024-02-23T10:51:51+00:00" }
```