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PRIMARY PRODUCTION
These figures represent a decrease of 65 per cent in weight but an increase of three per cent in value compared with 1980. Of the total production, 96 per cent in weight came from marine capture and four per cent from culture fisheries. In terms of wholesale value, 88 per cent came from marine capture and 12 per cent from culture fisheries.
An estimated 30 000 fishermen work a fleet of 5 000 vessels, of which over 90 per cent are mechanised. There are four major types of fishing in terms of gear: trawling, lining, gill-netting and purse-seining. Trawling is the most important, accounting for 65 per cent or 65 000 tonnes of marine fish landed in 1981. The total landed catch of live and fresh marine fish available for local consumption in 1981 amounted to 80 000 tonnes, with a wholesale value of $550 million. This represented 90 per cent of the local consumer demand.
Pond fish farming is the most important culture activity. Fish ponds covering 1840 hectares are in the New Territories, principally in the Yuen Long district. Traditional pond fish farming is similar to that practised in China for hundreds of years. Several different carp species are cultured in the same pond, each deriving its food from a different source and so making the utmost use of the nutrients introduced. Owing to the increasing urbanisation of the New Territories, the land area devoted to fish ponds has gradually declined. During the year, they yielded 6780 tonnes, or 16 per cent, of the local consumption of freshwater fish.
In the past decade, there has been considerable development in marine fish culture. Young fish, captured from their natural environment, are fattened in cages suspended from rafts in sheltered bays throughout Hong Kong, particularly in the eastern New Territories. In 1981, live marine fish supplied by this activity from some 60 sites amounted to 960 tonnes valued at $53 million.
Legislation was passed in 1980, to promote the orderly development of the marine fish culture industry in the limited sea area available.
Marketing
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is the
Much of the wholesale marketing of primary products – particularly fresh foods responsibility of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, and of the Vegetable and Fish Marketing Organisations administered by the department. During 1981, 34 per cent of the total quantity of locally-produced vegetables, and 75 per cent of the total landings of marine fish, were wholesaled through the Vegetable and Fish Marketing Organisations respectively.
The Vegetable Marketing Organisation operates under the Agricultural Products (Mar- keting) Ordinance, which provides for a board to advise the Director of Marketing (the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries). Its main concerns are transporting locally-produced vegetables from the New Territories to the wholesale market in Kowloon, providing marketing facilities, and supervising sales and financial transactions in the market. Revenue is obtained from a 10 per cent commission on sales. The organisation is non-profit-making. It seeks to obtain maximum returns for growers by minimising marketing costs, and renders such ancillary services as the acquisition and sale of agricultural supplies to farmers and the awarding of tertiary education scholarships to the dependants of farmers. During the year, 76 837 tonnes of vegetables valued at $204.3 million were sold through the organisation.
The Fish Marketing Organisation operates under the Marine Fish (Marketing) Ordi- nance, which also provides for an advisory board. The ordinance provides for control of the landing, wholesale marketing, and the import and export of marine fish. The Fish Marketing Organisation operates seven wholesale fish markets. Revenue is obtained from a