HK marine life

News re Hong Kong's marine life

WWF Hong Kong Save Our Seas video and petition

WWF Hong Kong has launched a Save Our Seas campaign, aimed at combatting over-fishing. Just produced a short video, filmed by Hong Kong Outdoors contributor Charles Frew. You can watch the video online, including on YouTube:

WWF Hong Kong SOS Campaign (Eng)

WWF Hong Kong SOS Campaign (Chinese)

(added 27 March:) WWF HK has produded more info on how to help fishermen and our economy, and for consumers re choices of seafood based on how sustainable the fisheries/fish farming are:

Submitted by DocMartin on 18 December 2006 - 4:37am

Great White Shark Culling?

 Read all about this story by going to the following link (a similar article appeared in the South China Morning Post):

Five-fold rise in shark attacks sparks calls for cull of protected great whites

This was my response, in letter to the SCMP (published on Sunday 8 October 2005):

The article in the SCMP (October 2) has certainly sparked debate and yet has not given the shark a chance to defend itself.  Again we witness a trophy photo of a surfer holding up his damaged surfboard and the words terror as he probably fought for his life (indeed)...gripping stuff we have all heard and seen before.

Perhaps one other alternative we haven't considered is actually banning marine users from the favoured feeding areas of Great White Sharks. 

Can we not issue 'an offence against nature' to those that take the (sometimes deliberate) risk when sharing the same water with the ocean's apex predator?  Enough of grabbing front page headlines with near miss shark attacks, and instead fine those that dress up in neoprene and surf in seal rookeries or spearfish in other favoured feeding habitat areas. It's not as though we do not know where the sharks are.

As for putting money on another shark attack this summer (an 18 year old waitress's prediction), this does not sound particularly scientific nor help the sharks fight for survival.  I can also guarantee that if I dressed the waitress in a wilder beast costume and asked her to run around the Serengeti National Park then I'd put my money on her being eaten by a lion or attacked by a pack of hyenas.

I suggest we leave the scientific assessment of culling to scientists and marine specialists and not surfers or land based residents; and for once leave the shark an area of ocean where it can swim around and cull those deemed to be over exploiting an area of habitat....if that mistakenly includes humans so be it.
 

Submitted by CharlieF on 15 October 2005 - 10:58am

Hong Kong fish sos

Here's press release from WWF HK; following is a link to page where you can support WWF's position, and the comment I made when adding my support for a new, conservation department:

WWF Hong Kong is taking full page advertisements in Hong Kong’s newspapers, asking the Government and the AFCD to explain why they have failed to provide responsible stewardship of Hong Kong’s fish resources.

This is the first time in its history that the local arm of one of the world’s leading conservation bodies has taken such action.

“The questions highlight the serious failure of the AFCD to fulfill its declared role of promoting the sustainable use of fisheries resources. This failure amounts to a dereliction of duty,” said the Chairman of WWF Hong Kong, Mr. Markus Shaw.

 

Submitted by DocMartin on 26 April 2005 - 7:49pm

HK fish need help

The following is an email from Dr. Andy Cornish, which shows how you can support planned measures that could greatly help Hong Kong's severely depleted fish stocks.

Submitted by CharlieF on 17 February 2005 - 12:25am

Hong Kong Sharks

Hong Kong once had a shark fishery indicating at least they were at one stage abundant, and why perhaps they are now locally extinct.

Submitted by CharlieF on 2 August 2004 - 3:36pm
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