Pollution has forced many fishermen in Bohai Bay into debt, the South China Morning Post reported. In the summer, the fishermen suffered as a result of an unprecedented discharge of sewage from the Canglangqu River followed by a massive red tide from the Bohai Sea. Coastal sea fishing had to be suspended in September and more than 600 hectares of fish farms were affected. In the past few years, pollution has worsened, driven by discharges from chemical plants, paper mills and leather factories in Henan, Shanxi, Shandong and Hebei provinces. State media reported in 2006 that the Bohai Sea is in danger of dying in the next decade.