166
R.A. BOWLER, D.S.C. YANG AND A.J.E. SMITH
Industry organisation
The Hong Kong oyster industry is a typical unsophisticated artisan fishery with low capital investment and organised on a family basis. Each family may use several areas distributed throughout Deep Bay so that some protection is afforded against localised events which may damage or destroy the oyster beds. Essential equipment comprises a sampan, wooden sledge, tongs, shucking hammer and some artificial substrate to which the oyster may attach and grow (Morton and Wong, 1975). The Lau Fau Shan Oyster Industry Association, the New Territories Oyster and Crustacean United Industries, and to some extent the Lau Fau Shan Chamber of Commerce, are three organisations which represent a majority of active farmers in the Hong Kong industry.
Production figures have been kept since 1977 by the oyster organisations, and these figures are shown in Figure 2 in comparison with records from the Annual Reports of the Agriculture & Fisheries Department of the Hong Kong Government, and those from previously published reviews (Mok, 1974b; Morton and Wong, 1975). Official exports from China are also shown in Figure 2 and are discussed below.
The apparent discrepancy in the records of the oyster industry and the Hong Kong Government reports may arise from the interlocked nature of the Hong Kong and China-based industries and the tendency to produce in accordance with market needs. Any supplement to the Hong Kong industry production by the practices of purchasing beds and oysters outlined later in this paper would not be determined by the Agriculture and Fisheries Department figures which attempt to measure purely Hong Kong production.
Interviews in 1984 indicated that about 300 households are directly involved in the Hong Kong oyster industry representing 1,200 to 2,000 individuals. In addition, a further 1,000 are employed on a part-time basis. Additional people are involved indirectly in the restaurant and processed oyster-products industry.
The industry in China has by contrast some 20,000 individuals
166
R.A. BOWLER, D.S.C. YANG AND A.J.E. SMITH
Industry organisation
The Hong Kong oyster industry is a typical unsophisticated artisan fishery with low capital investment and organised on a family basis. Each family may use several areas distributed throughout Deep Bay so that some protection is afforded against localised events which may damage or destroy the oyster beds. Essential equipment comprises a sampan, wooden sledge, tongs, shucking hammer and some artificial substrate to which the oyster may attach and grow (Morton and Wong, 1975). The Lau Fau Shan Oyster Industry Association, the New Territories Oyster and Crustacean United Industries, and to some extent the Lau Fau Shan Chamber of Commerce, are three organisations which repre- sent a majority of active farmers in the Hong Kong industry.
Production figures have been kept since 1977 by the oyster organisations, and these figures are shown in Figure 2 in compari- son with records from the Annual Reports of the Agriculture & Fisheries Department of the Hong Kong Government, and those from previously published reviews (Mok, 1974b; Morton and Wong, 1975). Official exports from China are also shown in Figure 2 and are discussed below.
The apparent discrepancy in the records of the oyster industry and the Hong Kong Government reports may arise from the inter- locked nature of the Hong Kong and China based industries and the tendency to produce in accordance with market needs. Any supplement to the Hong Kong industry production by the prac- tices of purchasing beds and oysters outlined later in this paper would not be determined by the Agriculture and Fisheries Depart- ment figures which attempt to measure purely Hong Kong pro- duction.
Interviews in 1984 indicated that about 300 households are directly involved in the Hong Kong oyster industry representing 1,200 to 2,000 individuals. In addition, a further 1,000 are em- ployed on a part-time basis. Additional people are involved indi- rectly in the restaurant and processed oyster-products industry.
The industry in China has by contrast some 20,000 individuals
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