PRIMARY PRODUCTION
An agricultural land rehabilitation scheme, aimed at returning fallow arable land to efficient cultivation, is being implemented by the department. Infrastructural improvements in irrigation, drainage and farm road access are being effected, and a package of assistance including advance payment of rent, soil improvement and marketing facilities is offered. The satisfactory results of pilot schemes at Cheung Po in Yuen Long and Hok Tau in Fanling have resulted in the extension of the scheme to other suitable areas.
Fishing Industry
Marine fish constitute one of Hong Kong's most important primary products. During the year under review, total production from marine capture and culture fisheries was estimated at about 221 200 tonnes, with a wholesale value of $2,540 million. This represented a decrease of one per cent in weight and an increase of two per cent in value compared with 1992. In weight terms, marine capture contributed 96 per cent towards total production while the remainder came from culture operations.
The Hong Kong fishing fleet, manned by 21 000 fishermen, comprises some 4 500 vessels of which 4 200 are mechanised. It plays a vital role in primary production, catching over 150 species of commercially important fish and supplying over 60 per cent of all marine produce consumed locally. Golden thread, bigeyes, lizard-fish, squid, melon seed, conger pike eels, croakers, hairtail, scads and yellow belly are the most important species landed.
Major-fishing methods include trawling, lining, gill-netting and purse-seining. About 60 per cent of the vessels are between 10 and 34 metres in length, comprising mainly trawlers, liners and gill-netters that operate on the continental shelf of the South China Sea between the Gulf of Tonkin and the East China Sea. The remaining 40 per cent of the vessels are less than 10 metres long, consisting primarily of gill-netters, hand-liners, and purse-seiners which operate in shallow coastal waters.
Trawling accounted for 79 per cent, or 172 000 tonnes, of marine fish landed in 1993. The total catch of live and fresh marine fish available for local consumption amounted to 89 300 tonnes, with an estimated wholesale value of $1,080 million.
Marine fish culture is practised within 26 designated fish culture zones, most of which are found around the coast of the eastern New Territories. Fish culture licences are issued by the Agriculture and Fisheries Department. At the year's-end, there were 1 640 licensed mariculturists. Young fish are reared in cages suspended from buoyed rafts. Grouper, seabream and snapper are the most common culture species. This sector supplied 3010 tonnes of live marine fish valued at $190 million during the year.
Freshwater fish are also cultured. Fish ponds covering 1 330 hectares are located in the New Territories, mostly around Yuen Long. Several different species of carp are cultured in the same pond, each with a different food requirement to maximise utilisation of the nutrients introduced. The land area devoted to fish ponds has gradually declined with the increasing urbanisation of the New Territories. During the year, pond culture yielded 5 760 tonnes, or 12 per cent, of freshwater fish for local consumption.
Fisheries Development
The Agriculture and Fisheries Department conducts a wide spectrum of studies on marine resources, aquaculture and the environmental impact of development activities on fisheries to assist the development of the local fishery industry.
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