Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ8: Trawler fishermen
Following is a question by the Hon Margaret Ng and a written reply by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today
(December 15):
Question:
Earlier, a newspaper published an interview with a girl from a fishing family,
pointing out that the girl's six-member family earns a living by fishing, and
she has been involved in the fishing industry along with her family since she
was small, and she plans to make fishing her life-long career. The article also
says that the girl's aspiration of leading a simple life may be dashed very soon
because this year's Policy Address has announced a voluntary trawler buyout
scheme and proposed to ban trawling in Hong Kong waters through legislation.
Regarding the Government's proposal of banning trawling in Hong Kong waters
through legislation, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) how the Government will implement the relevant policies or measures proposed
in the Report of the Committee on Sustainable Fisheries (the Report) released in
March 2010 for assisting the affected fishermen so that they can choose to
remain in the fishing industry;
(b) whether the Government will consider adopting a natural phasing out policy,
i.e. allowing the existing owners of fishing vessels to continue their
operations until they voluntarily give up the operations or die; if it will not,
of the reasons for that; and
(c) given that, while one of the proposals in the Report is the Government to
assist the affected fishermen in switching to the aquaculture industry, the
Report has also indicated that the annual production of both marine fish culture
and pond fish culture in Hong Kong has been dropping persistently and shrinking
significantly for more than a decade, whether the Government has assessed if the
affected fishermen can earn a living if they switch to the aquaculture industry;
of the land and resources that the Government will reserve for assisting the
affected fishermen in switching to the aquaculture industry?
Reply:
President,
(a) In this year's Policy Address, the Chief Executive proposed to ban trawling
in Hong Kong waters to protect our precious marine resources and ecology. We
intend to introduce a special training programme for the trawler fishermen who
have to give up their operations as a result of the ban, with a view to
equipping them with the skills and knowledge for switching to selective fishing
methods to continue with their operations, or to other sustainable fisheries
operations, including mariculture and recreational fishing. Fishermen who have
such needs may also apply to the Fisheries Development Loan Fund for low
interest loans to put their plans of switching to other fisheries operations
into action.
Besides, we plan to seek funding approval from the Legislative Council for
introducing a one-off buy-out scheme for eligible trawler fishermen, with a view
to adequately addressing the impact of the measure on their livelihood. The
scheme will include: (1) offering ex-gratia allowance payments to trawler vessel
owners affected by the afore-mentioned measure; (2) proposing to the affected
trawler vessel owners to buy out their trawler vessels on a voluntary basis; and
(3) providing one-off grants to assist the local deckhands employed by the
trawler vessel owners who take part in the buy-out scheme.
We believe the above proposed measures will assist the affected fishermen to
switch to other sustainable fisheries or related operations. As to the local
deckhands employed by the trawler vessel owners who take part in the buy-out
scheme, they will be given one-off grants to help them meet their short-term
needs during the period when they are looking for another job. They can also
join the training programmes provided by the Agriculture, Fisheries and
Conservation Department (AFCD) or the Employees Retraining Board, in order to
switch to other fisheries-related or non-fisheries-related trades.
(b) While non-selective means of fisheries operations have resulted in a decline
in fisheries resources, there is evidence that some over-exploited local species
still survive in sufficient numbers for successful restoration. However, if we
do not take decisive action now to prevent the continued depletion of our
fisheries resources and the destruction of the marine ecosystems, the damage to
our marine ecosystems will become irreversible. In addition, the trade may also
continue to exploit the remaining meagre fisheries resources until their
complete depletion, thus seriously damaging the marine ecosystems and the
capture fisheries sector.
In view of the above factors, we consider that the ban on trawling in Hong Kong
waters should be implemented as early as possible to halt the harmful depletion
of marine resources, thereby enabling the marine ecosystems to be gradually
rehabilitated to an ecologically sustainable level. The restoration of fisheries
resources in Hong Kong waters will in turn improve the cost efficiency and the
operating environment of the fisheries industry, thus enhancing the vibrancy of
the trade and livelihood of the practitioners.
(c) The Committee on Sustainable Fisheries considers that given the growing
concern of Hong Kong people over food quality and safety, there is an increasing
demand for quality fisheries products. If the trade can strengthen the
management of the local aquaculture industry, improve the culture techniques, as
well as raise the quality of fisheries products and the level of food safety,
the competitiveness of local fisheries products will be enhanced, providing room
for further development for the industry.
The AFCD is currently assisting fishermen who are interested in the aquaculture
industry to acquire the techniques required and promoting the development of the
aquaculture industry through the provision of training and technical support,
including organising aquaculture training courses in cooperation with mainland
universities and research institutions; inviting mainland and overseas experts
to provide technical support and training; arranging visits for local fishermen
to the mainland and overseas to study aquaculture techniques; developing fish
fry hatching and breeding techniques and introducing new fish species, as well
as introducing the "Fish Health Management Programme", the "Good Aquaculture
Practices Programme" and the "Accredited Fish Farm Scheme".
Moreover, the AFCD has been following up with relevant bureaux/departments in
reviewing the moratorium on the issue of new marine fish culture licences, and
studying the expansion and rotation of fish culture zones to facilitate trawler
fishermen to switch to mariculture.
Ends/Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Issued at HKT 11:57
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