MR ROYLE'S VISIT TO HONG KONG:
11-15 NOVEMBER 1972
BRIEF NO 8
FISHERMEN'S COOPERATIVES
1. In a supplementary to a Parliamentary Question on 23 October, Mr Laurie Pavitt (Labour and Cooperative, Willesden West) asked
Mr Royle: "Will the hon Gentleman take a special look at the
development that has gone on in cooperatives for fishermen in
Hong Kong, with a view to advising his right hon Friend, the Minister for Overseas Development, of further help that he might be able to
give to that excellent development?"
Mr Royle said that he
certainly would look into that whilst in the Colony.
2. Cooperative Societies in Hong Kong operate under a Cooperative Societies Ordinance, which provides for the appointment of a Registrar (currently the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries)
whose staff supervise and assist Cooperative Societies and encourage the formation of new ones. The attached table gives details of the
80 registered fishermen's cooperatives in Hong Kong.
3. The Fisheries Development Loan Fund, administered by the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries, is allotted specifically for
the development of the distant water fleet, for which it has a
capital of HK$5 million. The World Refugee Year Loan Fund for Cooperative Societies, made available in 1954 by the United Nations
High Commission for Refugees, also assists members of fishermen's
cooperative societies. Further credit facilities are available to
fishermen through the revolving loan fund of the Fish Marketing
Organisation. This fund was established in 1946 and has made loans
/totalling
1