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PRIMARY PRODUCTION

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boat stern-otter trawling at a later date. The first two were launched only a year ago, but already they have proved themselves successful fishing units. Great interest has been shown by other local trawler fishermen in this new design and it appears likely that more owners will copy it and incorporate further improvements. The fisheries extension division provides evening courses of instruction for workers in the junk building industry. Attention is directed mainly toward lofting-out (or laying-off) the correct lines of a boat, and a mould loft shed has been built to give the pupils practical experience.

The department administers the Fisheries Development Loan Fund, which is allotted specifically for the development of the Colony's middle and distant waters fleet and which had its capital increased during the year from $2 million to $5 million, and the Colonial Development and Welfare Scheme D 1967, which provides mechanization loans for fishermen. There is close co-operation with the Fish Marketing Organization, which administers two other fisheries loan funds and investigates applications for loans from all four funds. Together they provide capital of nearly $8,500,000 for the development of the industry. The department also takes part in the activities of the Indo-Pacific Fisheries Council of FAO and, during the year, two officers of the department attended the tenth session of the council in Korea.

The fisheries research station has a position in Hong Kong com- parable with other national and regional institutes studying fisheries resources. Its activities now centre on a biological and oceano- graphical investigation of the continental shelf within a radius of approximately 500 miles of the Colony, extending from Formosa to the Gulf of Tong King. For this work the station operates the research trawler Cape St Mary of 240 tons, a gift from Her Majesty's Government. As the programme develops, the scope of research and exploration will be enlarged to include the whole of the South China Sea. Studies of the culture of Chinese carp and other pond fish, and of edible and pearl oysters, are also carried out by the research staff of the station.

Fisheries. Marine fish is one of Hong Kong's main primary products and the fishing fleet is the largest of any port in the Commonwealth. Nearly 10,000 fishing junks of various sizes and designs and 25 Japanese-type trawlers, 12 of which are