PRIMARY PRODUCTION
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inshore waters to land a quota of their catch in China, are still in force. Landings by the local fishing fleet in 1965 were generally good and wholesale prices improved. The activities of the fleet were, however, affected by a general shortage of crew as a result of an increasing number of fishermen seeking employment on shore. Oyster Farming. Edible oysters have been cultivated in the waters of the Colony for some 700 years. The principal area of cultivation is Deep Bay where 284 tons of fresh oyster meat, valued at approxi- mately $1,490,000, were produced from 6,060 acres along the New Territories' shores of the bay. Some of this was processed into dried meat or oyster juice and exported to markets overseas.
Pearl Culture. Four commercial pearling companies operate on sites surveyed and licensed by the Agriculture and Fisheries Depart- ment. Three of the sites are in the Tolo Channel and Double Haven areas and one in Port Shelter. To assist research into the require- ments of this infant industry a small pearl culture research station has been constructed at Kat O in Mirs Bay which also investigates the possibility of introducing edible oysters obtained from Japan.
FISH MARKETING ORGANIZATION
The present Fish Marketing Organization grew out of the steps taken to rehabilitate the fishing fleet at the end of the Pacific War. Interest-free loans and grants were made and a fish marketing scheme was introduced with the long-term object of developing the industry on a sound economic footing. From this beginning de- veloped the present non-government trading organization controlled by a civil servant, now the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries. The organization is a non-profit-making concern which finds its revenue and pays its expenses from a 6 per cent commission on all the sales in its wholesale markets. It operates under the Marine Fish (Marketing) Ordinance 1956, which provides among other things for a Fish Marketing Advisory Board composed of un- officials to assist the organization.
The organization runs five wholesale fish markets at Aberdeen and Shau Kei Wan on Hong Kong Island, Yau Ma Tei in Kowloon and Tai Po and Sha Tau Kok in the New Territories. The con- struction of a new market of modern design at Cheung Sha Wan in Kowloon started in 1965 and when completed will replace