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Emerging Markets Datafile

HONG KONG STANDARD

April 13, 1998, Monday

LENGTH: 378 words

HEADLINE: Farmers in futile bid to move dying fish, HONG KONG STANDARD

BYLINE: Sanna So

BODY:

DESPERATE fish farmers on Cheung Chau Island have tried to move their fish to clearer waters in a futile attempt to save their fishstock.

But the killer red tides this year have already killed 70 per cent of their fish, with a loss of millions of dollars.

I have been operating my fish farms in Hong Kong for 23 years. This is the first time the red tides have come in such a disastrous way,'' Lai Shui, 43, said.

About 70 per cent of his 90,000 catties of fish, including garoupa, perch, gurnard and other breeder fishes, have died of suffocation in two days _ a loss of about $4 million.

It is very disastrous. Previous red tides came in a smaller scale and were scattered in the territory,'' he added.

Mr Lai was notified of the problem by the Agriculture and Fisheries Department on Wednesday and discovered his fish struggling to the surface for air the next morning.

But it was too late,'' he said. I tried to give the fish fresh water and towed them away from the red tides, but only 30 per cent managed to survive.

I am now left stranded and I have no idea what I can do,'' said Mr Lai, who has to feed a family of 10.

He predicts fish prices will rise 30 per cent because of the disaster.

Another fish farm operator in Cheung Chau, Chow Fu-yau, who has 15 years of experience, also lost 50,000 catties _ more than 70 per cent of his stock.

He said most of his stock was due to be sold in June and July.

The only thing we can do when red tides emerge is to escape and bring the fish away to clearer water,'' Mr Chow, 48, said.

But the red tides kill fish too quickly. I didn't have enough time to get my fish away.'' Mr Chow has sold some of his dying fish in the mainland for 5 or even 1 per cent of the price in Hong Kong.

Other fish are all disposed of in landfill sites,'' he added.

Mr Chow said the red tides might continue to kill fish unless a storm came to them away.

Both men are anxious to get their businesses back on track soon.

Mr Lai and Mr Chow urged the government to grant them emergency relief funds to ease their immediate needs and low-interest loans to rebuild their businesses and buy more breeder fish.

Mr Chow said his business would need at least $200,000 to recover.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

COUNTRY: HONG KONG HONG KONG (UK) (79%);

LOAD-DATE: April 13, 1998