4.
3.7
The Mai Po Marshes were Gazetted as a Fourth Schedule area under the Wild Birds and Wild Mammals Protection Ordinance Cap. 170-in March 1973. It is thus illegal to hunt or to carry firearms in the erea. (Appendix 2). Despite the provisions of the Ordinance, netting of birds is widespread and a considerable amount of shooting takes place (both of 'game' and 'protected' species). There are also suggestions that hunters send beaters to disturb the birds in the Scheduled area, and then shoot them as they fly over the boundaries into the unscheduled area.
History of Land Tenure
4.1
The following is taken from Paper No. 20 of the Advisory Committee on Recreational Development and Nature Conservation. 'Report of the Nature Conservation Sub-Committee on Deep Bay Marshes'
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4.2
Oyster Bed Number Five is immediately adjacent to the mangrove area to the west of Deep Bay Marshes and its history is relevant since the kei wais were formerly on integral part of the Deep Bay littoral zone (Fig. 2). Oyster Bed Number Five was the subject of a licence dated 24/10/1906 which allowed a named trustee of Shel: Ha Village Community to conduct an oyster fishery in the area (I.B. it is important to note that Shek Ha Village is situated north of the Shan Chun River in China) and, although documentation is not available, it is very likely that the Community farmed the area for oysters up to 1931 when it was formally leased to them for a period of 21 years.
4.3
In the late 1940's and early 1950's many of the Shek Ha villagers left China and, having established themselves in the New Territories, continued to farm these oyster beds. However, in 1949 the people who stayed behind in Shek Ha formed the Shek Ha Commune and claimed all the oysters in Oyster Bed Number Five for themselves.
4.4
The 21 year lease given to the Shek Ha Community expired in 1952, was extended for five years and, after a lapse of a few years, was again renewed in 1963 for a further period of 21 years, this time in favour of "Shek Tai Tong", which claimed to be the New Territories branch of the original Shek Ha Village. Meanwhile, in China, the Shck Ha Commune, now renamed Fa Shing Commune, disputed
4.5
a) the right of the Shek Tai Tong to farm the
oyster beds and
b) their claim to represent the people of the
original Shek Ha Village. '
Serious disputes broke out in 1966 between the Shek Tai Tong together with their sub leasees (numbering about 80) and the Fa Shing Commune, as a result of which the present 'ownership' situation is rather delicate and tense. However, the Shek Tai Tong still pays rent for the area to the Crown, although in fact, many parts of Oyster Bed Number Five are now not farmed at all.