The Irish Times, April 16, 1998
April 16, 1998, CITY EDITION
SECTION: WORLD NEWS; Pg. 12
LENGTH: 707 words
HEADLINE: Hong Kong fish stocks ravaged by deadly red tide 1,500
tonnes of fish die as the former British colony suffers latest
health scare
BYLINE: By CONOR O'CLERY
DATELINE: BEIJING
BODY:
Having survived unscathed what could have been a political
disaster - the occupation in July by the Chinese red army - Hong
Kong has been hit by a series of natural disasters of biblical
proportions.
First came the deluge, the heaviest rains in a century, then
the deadly fowl pestilence which caused the slaughter of millions
of chickens. Now a red tide of algae is devastating the fish
in the seas around the former British colony.
The spread of the algae is the "worst natural disaster"
in living memory for Hong Kong, one of the biggest fish-eating
cities in the world, according to the assistant director for Agriculture
and Fisheries, Mr Joseph Sham Chunhung.
Hong Kong's director of health, Ms Margaret Chan, advised the
public yesterday to avoid eating sea fish and appealed for help
from international experts.
The algae bloom began in mid-March and has killed 1,500 tonnes
of fish stocks, the equivalent of half the entire amount produced
in Hong Kong waters last year. The microscopic organisms multiply
rapidly and colour the sea yellow or reddish brown. The fish suffocate
and die after the algae enters their gills.
The government has estimated breeders' losses at more than
(pounds) 7 million, but fishermen claim the figure is three times
that.
Some Hong Kong fish farmers are engaged in frantic battles
to save their stocks. In a quiet bay called Ma Wan off Lantau
Island, a war against the red invaders is being fought by 80 fishermen
armed with boat propellers and air tanks. When a stain of colour
is spotted, usually at low tide, the fishermen rev up their boat
engines to create a current and force the algae back out to sea,
sometimes running them for three hours.
At the same time, they pump oxygen into fish cages to give
them extra protection. "We're waging a war," Mr Fok
Hei (74), a fish farmer in Ma Wan for 28 years, said. "There's
no place to run. We have to stay and fight." As happened
during the bird flu crisis in December, the public has been given
contradictory advice about the dangers to health. The Agriculture
and Fisheries Department says the dominant organism found in the
red tide is gyrodinium aureolum, which it claims has not produced
toxins.
However, the head of eco-toxicology at Hong Kong University,
Prof Mike Dickman, says the organism could produce three separate
types of toxin. One of the toxins produced by gyrodinium aureolum
- neurotoxin - produces a tingling sensation on the lips and then,
depending on how much contaminated fish has been consumed, impedes
impulses between nerves and the brain. Symptoms include nausea
and dizziness and in severe cases, the poisoning can be fatal.
As the Hong Kong chief executive, Mr Tung Chee-hwa, visited
fish farms on outlying Lamma Island yesterday to see the damage,
Ms Chan told reporters people would be wise to select freshwater
fish and other chilled fish from other parts of the world. She
said anybody who decided to eat the sea fish should remove the
gills and innards. Considered a delicacy by some, these parts
could contain toxins if affected by the algae. The health director
also said fish affected by the algae contained toxin but so far
it had not reached the dangerous level set by the World Health
Organisation (WHO).
However, WHO scientists yesterday admitted in Geneva they had
no research on the potential health hazards for people swimming
in contaminated water or eating fish poisoned by red tide toxins.
The algae have proved a menace off the southern mainland of China,
with fish farmers in Nanao reporting a loss of (pounds) 500,000
after 20 tonnes of fish fry died in the red tide this month.
The environmental group, Friends of the Earth, blames pollution
from factories in Shenzhen, and says it highlights signs that
overpopulation combined with environmental neglect poses the biggest
threat to Hong Kong's future. The algae are boosted by organic
pollution from the sewage Hong Kong pumps into the sea.
The crisis has become more acute since the weekend when news
of the red tide broke. The waters of some fish farms are becoming
choked with rotting fish. The Agriculture and Fisheries Department
is arranging the removal of the fish as quickly as possible, a
spokesman said.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: April 16, 1998