According to a marine awareness survey released by WWF today, 86% of Hong Kong people agreed that more serious efforts must be made to protect threatened marine life in Hong Kong waters. 74% agreed that it is the government’s responsibility to protect our marine environment and biodiversity. There was also strong support for “no-take zones”, marine areas where no fishing is permitted. Virtually all respondents (99%) agreed that no-take zones are reasonable, while 80% agreed that more than 20% of Hong Kong waters should be no-take zones. These results revealed surprisingly strong public support for marine conservation and confirms WWF stance in its “SOS: Save Our Seas” campaign.

The survey was conducted by TNS for WWF to determine the Hong Kong public’s awareness of, and opinions on, general marine conservation issues. A total of 932 persons representative of the general population were interviewed online between 22 July and 2 Aug 2005.

“I would like to thank TNS for providing professional support in this public survey which sends an important message to the Government that there is a strong public desire to see more done to protect our marine environment, and to restore marine life to its former riches. WWF is most fortunate in our association with TNS and the results will guide WWF’s future marine conservation and education programmes,” said Mr Eric Bohm, WWF Hong Kong CEO.

Reclamation

When asked what environmental challenges in Hong Kong they were aware of, 93% of the respondents listed air pollution, followed by marine conservation at 77%. In answer to what activity they thought was the most damaging to the marine environment, 30% said reclamation, 16% said dumping and 14% said fishing.

“We were pleasantly surprised that the general public does recognize marine conservation as a major environmental problem in Hong Kong requiring immediate and effective measures to solve the issues. However, few people recognize the serious cumulative impact of decades of hands-off fisheries management in Hong Kong waters, and still more needs to be done to raise their awareness level on this issue,” said Dr Andy Cornish, WWF Hong Kong Conservation Director.

Hong Kong currently has four marine parks and one marine reserve, a fact not well known to the public, as only 18% of the respondents knew the correct total number of these marine protected areas. However, when asked about no-take zones, virtually all respondents (99%) thought that no-take zones were reasonable, and 80% thought that more than 20% of Hong Kong waters should be no-take zones. At present the only no-take zones are the Cape d’Aguilar Marine Reserve and a small area of Tung Ping Chau Marine Park, representing a mere 0.016% of total Hong Kong waters.

“The results on no-take zones show strong public support for a key aspect of WWF’s ongoing Save Our Seas Campaign to restore marine resources, namely the designation of 10% of Hong Kong waters no-take zones in the short term, and 30% in the longer-term. At the moment, 0.016% of Hong Kong waters is no-take but the poll shows just about everybody believes it should be much more than this,” continued Dr Cornish.

Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park

WWF, through its SOS campaign, is advocating the designation of no-take zones in Port Shelter, Tolo Harbour and Channel, and Long Harbour as well as existing Marine Parks at Hoi Ha Wan, Yan Chau Tong, Tung Ping Chau, Sha Chau and Lung Kwu Chau. These combined areas cover 9.8% of the Hong Kong waters. As well benefiting fisheries outside the no-take zones, and providing a safe haven inside for marine communities to once again flourish, recreational opportunities will be enhanced, such as for the diving communities who will once again be able to swim amongst schools of big fish.

WWF strongly supports the use of no-take zones to restore local fish stocks, which are in poor shape as a result of reclamation, dredging, indiscriminate dumping and unsustainable fisheries management. WWF is, however, concerned about the impact such no-take zones will have on the livelihoods of fishermen in eastern waters in the short-term. WWF is working hard to convince the Government to devise a viable and workable solution for local fishermen to provide monetary allowance for the loss of fishing in no-take areas, and to retrain fishermen for new roles where possible.

– End –