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PRIMARY PRODUCTION
courses for those who wished to adopt new methods such as rearing hybrid broilers or concentrating on pullet rearing. Additional loan facilities were also made available to needy farmers.
Friesian cattle are kept by dairies, most of which are in the New Territories.
Sporadic outbreaks of a mild type of foot-and-mouth disease (Type O) and swine fever still occur, but they are kept under control by vaccination. Newcastle Disease in poultry is controlled by the use of Ranikhet and intranasal-drop vaccines. Investigations to establish the incidence of intercurrent disease in both pigs and poultry are carried out at the government's veterinary laboratory.
Stringent rabies control measures remained in force throughout the year. These include extensive immunisation of dogs and cats against rabies, intensive catching and elimination of stray dogs, and restriction of dog movement into and out of the gazetted rabies-infected area. By the end of the year, 17 000 dogs had been humanely destroyed and another 32 000 licensed and inoculated against rabies.
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As a standard practice, all imported dogs and cats, other than those from Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, are subject to six months' quarantine. Any dog that bites a person is required to be detained for observation in government kennels for a period of seven days. All cattle and pigs imported for food are quarantined on arrival in Hong Kong. Importation for breeding purposes is also subject to strict control.
Fishing Industry
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marine capture and culture
Marine fish constitute one of Hong Kong's most important primary products. More than 150 fish species of commercial importance frequent the waters of the adjacent continental shelf. Most important of these in terms of landed weight are golden thread, scads, lizardfish, big-eyes, sardines, conger-pike eels and croakers. Total estimated production from the two major sectors fisheries amounted to 189 000 tonnes with a wholesale value of $1,600 million in 1983. These figures represent an increase of four per cent in weight and seven per cent in value compared with 1982. 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, 90 per cent came from marine capture and 10 per cent from culture fisheries.
An estimated 29 000 fishermen work a fleet of 5 000 vessels, of which over 92 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 68 per cent or 75 000 tonnes of marine fish landed in 1983. The total landed catch of live and fresh marine fish available for local consumption in 1983 amounted to 90 000 tonnes, with a wholesale value of $675 million. This represented 90 per cent of the local consumer demand.
Pond fish farming is the most important culture activity. Fish ponds covering 1 800 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 7 100 tonnes, or 15 per cent of the local consumption of fresh water 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
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