Pollution, over fishing and the (36)______ of coastal projects have pushed many fish to the brink of (37)______. In East China’s

Pollution, over fishing and the construction of coastal projects have pushed many fish to the brink of extinction. In East China’s Shandong Province, the catch from its northern Bohai Sea has stumped from 3.32 million tons in 1999 to 2.78 million tons in 2001. There are fewer major cash fish in the Bohai, even during fishing season. Fish previously teeming in the sea including tile hair tail and yellow croaker, must now be imported.
    In Jiangsn Province, fishermen near Xinyi River’s estuary have suffered heavy losses. Their aquatic products have been killed by sewage from the river’s upper reaches.
    The fishermen can’t seek remuneration because it is impossible to determine which sewage producers along the river should be held accountable the article said. Xinyi River winds through Shandong and Jiangsu provinces. It has become a de facto sewage pipeline due to the provinces’ poor waste-control policies and systems.
    Oxygen-guzzling organisms and heavy metallic materials, major causes of "red tide", are the main pollutants in Jiangsu’s coastal waters. Red tide reduces oxygen in water, which in turn kills marine life. More than 90% of these pollutants are emitted from factories and residential sewage of prosperous provinces, according to the article.
    Although Jiangsu has closed a lot of polluting businesses, including small cement plants and paper mills in recent years, controlling waste remains a difficult job for provincial officials.