162
THE PEARL RIVER
ESTUARY OYSTER INDUSTRY
IN AND AROUND DEEP BAY
R.A. BOWLER, D.S.C. YANG, A.J.E. SMITH*
Introduction
An environmental impact assessment (EIA) has recently been made of the dredging and land formation aspects of a proposed reclamation for a new town development at Tin Shui Wai located in the north-west New Territories of Hong Kong as shown in Figure 1 (Binnie & Partners, 1984). Some of the activities considered in the EIA may have an effect on the commercial oyster industry located in nearby Deep Bay (also called Shenzhen Bay) and, accordingly, information was sought as to the structure of the industry, its productivity and the cultivation techniques used. The information was obtained by many interviews with oyster farmers and related organisations both in Hong Kong (HK) and in the People's Republic of China and supplements an earlier review by Morton and Wong in 1975. Figure 1 shows the extent of the oyster beds in Deep Bay and the locations referred to in the paper.
The Pearl River estuary
The Pearl River system drains a catchment of 450,000 km2 of which 50% is above 500 m elevation and only 5% consists of lowland delta areas. The catchment is drained by three principal rivers: the Bei Jiang (North River), the Dong Jiang (East River) and the Xi Jiang (West River). The Xi Jiang is the largest, having an estimated length of 2200 km. About 54 million tonnes per year of sediment are released into the estuary and about 20% of this is retained by density-induced water circulation. A net northerly movement of sand up the estuary past the mouth of Deep Bay has been suggested (Binnie & Partners, 1984). Deep Bay is a large shallow bay on the eastern side of the Pearl River estuary adjacent to the deep flood channel of Urmston Road. The Bay has a surface
* The authors work for Binnie & Partners, Hong Kong.
See Plates 4-6.
162
THE PEARL RIVER
ESTUARY OYSTER INDUSTRY
IN AND AROUND DEEP BAY
R.A. BOWLER, D.S.C. YANG, A.J.E. SMITH*
Introduction
An environmental impact assessment (EIA) has recently been made of the dredging and land formation aspects of a proposed reclamation for a new town development at Tin Shui Wai located in the north-west New Territories of Hong Kong as shown in Figure 1 (Binnie & Partners, 1984). Some of the activities consid- ered in the EIA may have an effect on the commercial oyster industry located in nearby Deep Bay (also called Shenzhen Bay) and, accordingly, information was sought as to the structure of the industry, its productivity and the cultivation techniques used. The information was obtained by many interviews with oyster farmers and related organisations both in Hong Kong (HK) and in the People's Republic of China and supplements an earlier review by Morton and Wong in 1975. Figure 1 shows the extent of the oyster beds in Deep Bay and the locations referred to in the paper.
The Pearl River esturay
The Pearl River system drains a catchment of 450,000 km2 of which 50% is above 500 m elevation and only 5% consists of lowland delta areas. The catchment is drained by three principal rivers: the Bei Jiang (North River), the Dong Jiang (East River) and the Xi Jiang (West River). The Xi Jiang is the largest, having an estimated length of 2200 km. About 54 million tonnes per year of sediment are released into the estuary and about 20% of this is retained by density-induced water circulation. A net northerly movement of sand up the estuary past the mouth of Deep Bay has been suggested (Binnie & Partners, 1984). Deep Bay is a large shallow bay on the eastern side of the Pearl River estuary adjacent to the deep flood channel of Urmston Road. The Bay has a surface
* The authors work for Binnie & Partners, Hong Kong.
See Plates 4-6.
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