References - Press Releases - Hong Kong

2004

HONG KONG'S FIRST BIG FISH COUNT HELD ON 20 JUNE
DIVING COMMUNITY INVITED TO PROTECT OUR FRAGILE MARINE ENVIRONMENT

WWF Hong Kong Marine Ambassador Ekin Cheng to pose with 'fish kids' at the press conference.

Hong Kong's first fish species counting race will be held in Hong Kong waters on 20 June 2004 to record as many fish species as possible within 8 hours. The Big Fish Count, organized by WWF Hong Kong, aims to raise public awareness on our wonderful marine resources under the sea well as necessary funds for our marine conservation and education work.

"WWF Hong Kong has put a lot of our focus and attention in preserving our beautiful but fragile marine environment. Our latest campaign is to try to ban the tangle nets in marine parks to prevent further killing of marine life and coral damages. We are also calling for the establishment of no-take zones in marine parks so that fish can be replenished in a sustainable manner," said Mr Markus Shaw, WWF Hong Kong Chairman.

Fish kids to present their "hand-made" drawings on underwater world to Mr Edward Wong of AFCD who is the supporting organisation of WWF Hong Kong Big Fish Count.

Dr Andy Cornish explains the fish species in Hong Kong including seahorse.

The Big Fish Count is also one of WWF Hong Kong's latest activity to echo the World Oceans Day (8 June), an international day declared in 1992 at the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro to raise awareness about marine life. WWF Hong Kong has themed June as the marine month whereby a series of events and activities have been planned such as the Humphead Wrasse Awareness Campaign Launch on 8 June.

"Hong Kong has a sea surface area of 1650 sq. km. with a high diversity of marine life. It's home to 1,000 species of tropical and temperate marine fishes and over 80 corals. However, many Hong Kong people are still not aware of the existence of these marine treasures. There's a need to educate the public and students on our great underwater diversity, which is a fascinating mix of tropical and cold-water species. In addition to raising public awareness on our marine resources in Hong Kong, we will use the fish counts to compile a fish biodiversity database that will be added to each year to aid marine conservation efforts," said Dr Andy Cornish, local fish expert and adjudicator of the Big Fish Count.

Each participating team will have 2 to 5 buddy pairs with a total of 4 to 10 members. All team members should be certified scuba divers and each team member should not have more than 3 dives during the 8-hour period. The Count will be held from 9 am to 5 pm with teams recording the fish species within 8 hours. Logbooks are to be submitted to the Adjudicator before 5pm for recording checking. Results of the Count will be announced at the results announcement party in the same evening.

Kids performing fish dance to celebrate the beauty of our marine environment.

Ekin conducts a gym bicycle exercise to text his fitness. Technical consultant of the Race confirms Ekin is fit for the race.

A total of three awards will be presented to the winners of different categories:

• Big Fish Count Professional Award for the buddy pair who spotted the highest number of fish species within one dive
• Big Fish Count Champion Award for the team who recorded the highest number of fish species for the whole day
• Big Fish Count Fundraising Champion Award for the team who raised most fund

Interested qualifed divers are invited to form teams to join this exciting fish spotting activity. To ensure that the event can raise the necessary funds for our conservation and education programmes, there is a minimum donation of $5,000 required for each enrolled team. Moreover, if funds raised reach or exceed the target level of $20,000, a special souvenir will be presented to acknowledge their special support. Pledge forms will be provided to team members for fundraising purposes. For queries and enrolment, please contact our fundraising team at 2526 1011 (tel), 2845 2734 (fax) and wwf@wwf.org.hk (email).

Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department is the supporting organization with Apple Daily being the media sponsor. Special thanks to the following companies for supporting the Big Fish Count: Canon Hongkong Co Ltd Oceanway Corporation Limited Olympian City 2 OSIM (HK) Company Limited Telford International Company Ltd

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