Hong Kong has approved a ban on all trawling in its local waters, a move that is largely being seen as a crucial first step in reviving the Administrative Region’s depleted marine environment, says WWF.
The new policy, which comes into full effect in late 2012, includes a HK$17.2 billion (US$2.2 billion) buyout scheme that provides ex gratia payments for affected inshore trawler owners and other larger vessels. The new rules also include a payment plan for owners who voluntarily surrender their vessels as well as a one-off grant to affected local deckhands.
The Legislative Council decision follows the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s (HKSAR) announcement in Oct 2010 of a proposed ban on all bottom and mid-water trawling activities including fishing using pair, stern, shrimp and hang trawlers in its waters.
A study conducted by Canada’s University of British Columbia for WWF Hong Kong finds that five years after the implementation of the trawling ban – provided the government also stops commercial fishing in marine parks – populations of squid and cuttlefish will increase by 35%, while the number of reef fish will grow by 20%. Meanwhile, populations of larger fish, such as groupers and croakers, will surge by 40 to 70% from their current levels.
The trawling ban will also give soft corals, sponges and numerous bottom-dwelling creatures an opportunity to recover, says WWF.
The capture fisheries sector in Hong Kong represents approximately 3,700 fishing vessels. Close to 1,100 of these are trawlers with the remaining small boats used for inshore fishing. Some 400 trawlers operate partly or wholly in Hong Kong’s territorial waters, covering 1,650 km2, and account for roughly 80% of its fishing fleet’s total engine power.
But this is nearly double what the area’s marine environment can support, says a 2006 study conducted by the Chinese Academy of Fisheries Sciences.
However, WWF also cautions that more still needs to be done to ensure that Hong Kong’s marine environment has a healthy future:
