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Emerging Markets Datafile

HONG KONG STANDARD

April 13, 1998, Monday

LENGTH: 471 words

HEADLINE: Red tide hits popular beach, HONG KONG STANDARD

BYLINE: ceri Williams and Sanna So

BODY:

RED tide, which has killed two-thirds of the marine fish farm >population at an estimated loss of $120 million, has forced the closure of popular >Repulse Bay beach.

Illegal dumping in Guangdong is being blamed for the worst toxic red >tide' ' to hit Hong Kong in 10 years.

A red flag warning was hoisted on Sunday at Repulse Bay beach as lifeguards warned swimmers to get out of the water.

Red tide has been spotted in this boundary. Please do not enter the water,'' officers bellowed out through loud-hailers.

Those exposed to red tide could suffer red eye'', skin disease and >stomach ailments.

The Agriculture and Fisheries Department, which was still collecting thousands of dead fish on Sunday, said about 200 fish farmers had applied for emergency assistance, with claims of up to $11,000 each. Seafood prices are expected to rise in the coming months.

The Hong Kong Fish Culture Association estimates the total cost to the industry for fish farmers at Sai Kung, Lamma Island and Cheung Chau at $120 million.

Red tide, caused by a build-up of phytoplankton, first appeared on 19 March. So far it has killed 148,838 kilograms of fish and affected about 1,000 of Hong Kong's 1,500 fish farms.

Environmental group Friends of the Earth (Hong Kong) said the toxic tide, caused by a heavy build-up of microscopic organisms, may be the result of unabated dumping of sewage and industrial waste from factories in >Guangdong. It will urge the government at the next meeting of the Hong Kong Advisory >Committee on the Environment to raise the pollution problem with Guangdong officials.

Red tide gets its name from a reddish tinge caused by dinoflagellates, a micro-organism that suffocates fish and releases toxic substances. Red tide first invaded O Pui Tong on the eastern side of Hong Kong at the border >with the mainland.

Environmental experts predict Hong Kong could see a series of red tides this year because of the El Nino ocean-warming phenomenon, which has caused drought in parts of Asia.

The red tide is caused by industrial sewage _ probably from heavy industries like dyeing factories and ship-building plants in Guangdong >illegally polluting waters,'' assistant director of Friends of the Earth (Hong Kong) >Plato Yip Kwong-To said on Sunday.

The sewage contains phosphorous which is nutritious to these micro- organisms, so they multiply.

This is one of the worst red tides in Hong Kong in 10 years, because normally only around 100,000 to 200,000 fish die at a time each year.'' Hong Kong Fish Culture Association chairman Wong Yung-kan said they would meet Agriculture and Fisheries Department officials on Tuesday to discuss emergency financial relief for fish farmers.

The Department of Health said on Sunday that red tide -affected fish were not poisonous.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

COUNTRY: HONG KONG HONG KONG (UK) (95%);

LOAD-DATE: April 13, 1998