07/03/2005– WWF is calling
on the Hong Kong government to institute a
total ban on bottom trawling off the island’s
territorial waters.
This is one of the recommendations WWF-Hong
Kong has submitted to the territory's Health,
Welfare and Food Bureau which is currently
seeking views on its proposed amendments to
the local Fisheries Protection Ordinance.
“The intensive trawling that goes on in Hong
Kong causes extensive damage to the sea bed
and the habitat that nurtures fish,” said
WWF-Hong Kong Chairman Marcus Shaw.
“Designating all territorial waters as a Fisheries
Protection Area would result in an outright
ban on trawling and prevent our marine habitats
from further degradation.”
The destructiveness of inshore trawling is
recognized around the world and has already
been banned in many Southeast Asian countries,
including Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines,
as well as in mainland China.
According to WWF-Hong Kong, 12 out Hong Kong's
17 commercially important fish species are
over-exploited, and the remainder fully exploited.
The average size of fish caught by trawlers
is as low as 10g.
“Hong Kong’s current fisheries are a clear
case of unsustainability,” Shaw added. “We
have one of the lowest biomass of fish per
square metre of reef in the world.”
WWF is also urging that all eastern waters
be designated “no-take” zones (with designated
and managed recreational fishing areas), including
all waters east of Poi Toi Islands and Lei
Yue Mun, and supports an annual two-month
territory-wide “closed season” for fishing.
“Hong Kong’s marine environment and its resources
are a public asset,” Shaw said.
“The government has a duty to the people
of Hong Kong to protect the health and sustainability
of Hong Kong’s fisheries and to conserve its
marine environment. Without fish, there can
be no fishing industry.”
