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P. 20
April 2017
Life Below the Waterife Below the Water
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Purse seine fishing can catch a large amount of fish at one time(Image: NOAA - C. Ortiz Rojas)
Dr Keith Man, R&D project manager in Vicwood Prosperity Technology Ltd
Human life depends on the ocean. While it may not seem obvious for us city dwellers in Hong Kong, our
livelihood and the ocean is intricately tied. Hong Kong was founded as a trading port of the British Empire to
trade Chinese manufactured goods and ship them to Europe. This is a role Hong Kong is still plays 175 years
later. While events leading up to the establishment of Hong Kong is morally questionable by today’s
standards, its benefit to the world’s economy cannot be denied.
Today, Hong Kong is the world’s fourth largest ship register and the 8th largest trading economy [HKTDC].
Kwai Tsing Container Terminal is the 6 largest container terminal in the world and handled over 20 million
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TEU containers in 2015[HKTDC]. Hong Kong’s maritime sector contributed $131.4 Billion HKD to Hong Kong’s
economy and employ over 85000 people. In addition, Hong Kong has a eet of over 5000 shing vessels that
go as far as the South China Sea to bring back 145,000 tonnes of sh in last year [AFCD]. Our aquaculture sh
pond and sh farms further contributed another 3300 tonnes of sh to our tables[AFCD]. In total our own
fisheries provide 28% of the seafood we eat.
