· PRODUCTION •
Chapter 6.
FISHERIES.
Before the war the fishing industry was under the control of groups of wholesale dealers called "laans". To understand the manner in which this control was exercised, it is necessary to re- member that the income of the fishermen varies greatly with the season and they have never learned to save in prosperous times enough money to carry them over the harder periods. When fish- ing was bad and money was scarce fishermen would obtain a loan from the "laans", a loan which was rarely repaid and on which interest was rarely charged, the only condition being that the fishermen's entire catch would be handed over to the middleman for marketing. The result of this system was that the fisherman was always in debt and was never in a position to better his condition or to experiment with new gear and methods.
The condition of the industry was in no way improved by its experiences during the Japanese war. Even before the occupation of Hong Kong the piratical tendencies of the Japanese in local waters effectively dissuaded some fishermen from following their trade. During the Japanese occupation the industry came almost to a standstill; many of the larger fishing junks left the Colony and others took to trading. By the end of the war few of the remaining junks were sea-worthy and most of the gear required overhauling. A survey revealed that there were 26,000 fisherfolk in the Colony as compared with 77,451 in 1938 and that most of them were im- poverished and without boats.
The time was therefore opportune for the institution of a scheme, devised in Stanley internment camp, for the establishment of a Fisheries Department and under its control a Fish Marketing Organisation which would finally become self-supporting, with the object of ensuring that the profits of the industry would fishermen and not to the middleman.
go to the
Under this scheme a Wholesale Fish Market was established at Kennedy Town and later another at Taipo in which all marine fish
}
49