Posted on June, 06 2011

The Hong Kong Government passed legislation to ban all forms of trawling throughout Hong Kong waters in May, a law that will become effective in late 2012.

Thanks to WWF’s intense lobbying effort of the past years, the legislation was passed without objection or amendment.

“Everybody said it was impossible,” said Dr Andy Cornish, Director of Conservation, WWF-Hong Kong. “It has taken years of hard work to get people to realise the benefits of doing so. The increasing level of support from the community in recent years is very gratifying.”

Hong Kong waters are believed to be amongst the most overfished seas in the world. Hong Kong fisheries produce nearly double the environmentally sustainable level and in economic terms, increasing operating costs and declining catch make it difficult for fishermen to stay in business.

A consultancy study revealed the harmful depletion of fish stocks, and led to the establishment of the Committee on Sustainable Fisheries. Among other measures, the Committee strongly recommended the trawling ban.

More recently, a study from the Fisheries Centre at the University of British Columbia that was commissioned by WWF showed that a scenario with bans on trawling and commercial fishing in marine parks had the greatest long-term economic benefit.

The Hong Kong Government is taking a number of measures to reduce the economic impact of the ban, including a financial allowance for vessel owners who will leave the fishery (a one-off buy-out of affected trawlers, with some boats to be deployed as artificial reefs), and free training programmes and support to fishermen who shift to sustainable and alternative fishing practices (e.g. mariculture) among others.

In 25 years, it is estimated that there will be between 50-70% increase in catch value per unit fishing effort if the ban’s measures are correctly implemented. WWF will be following up to see that appropriate controls are applied to the remaining fleet. This initiative in Hong Kong provides an important example for similar ones in the Coral Triangle.