A victory for marine conservation and ocean lovers—WWF welcomes new legislation to ban trawling in Hong Kong

Today marks a monumental day in the history of wildlife conservation in Hong Kong — the Legislative Council has approved a ban on trawling in all local waters by raising no opposition to the government’s amendment bill.* This is the first crucial step in reviving our marine environment and developing sustainable fisheries. WWF welcomes the new legislation and would like to thank all the supporters that have helped to make this happen.

Since 2005, WWF has been campaigning for a ban on trawling and promoting its significance to the recovery of our ocean habitat, as well as fish populations. However, as only a few countries in the world had imposed such ban, the chance was regarded as slim. “Everybody said it was impossible,” said Dr Andy Cornish, Director of Conservation, WWF-Hong Kong. “It has taken years of hard work to get people to realise the benefits of doing so. We've been so gratified at the increasing level of support from the community in recent years.” In 2008, nearly 60,000 people signed WWF’s petition, calling for sustainable fisheries management in Hong Kong waters. And over the past weeks, up until the critical hours when the trawling ban went ahead, the response has been incredible. It has been wonderful to see academics, green groups, students, sea-related business owners and the public rallying round a common cause.

Banning trawling will allow a living habitat of soft corals, sponges and numerous bottom-dwelling creatures on the seabed to regrow — which will in return support numerous seafood species popular among Hong Kong people. Top fisheries scientists have predicted that just five years after the implementation of the trawling ban (and commercial fishing in marine parks), populations of squid and cuttlefish will increase by 35 percent and that of reef fish by 20 percent. Populations of larger fish, such as groupers and croakers, will surge by 40 to 70 percent as well.

The journey is far from finished: WWF believes people’s livelihoods cannot be alienated from conservation. Therefore, we have been actively engaging the fishing communities, key stakeholders and the government to seek viable alternative livelihoods for them under sustainable models.
Eco-tourism, aquaculture and small-scale fishing practice are some of the many options identified. Banning trawling is indispensable to the recovery of marine life, but effective law enforcement to combat illegal fishing, together with fishery monitoring and research, are of no less importance in realising the real benefits of the ban.

To compliment the effects of banning trawling, WWF urges the government to swiftly implement a ban on commercial fishing in all marine parks in Hong Kong, as announced in the 2008-09 Policy Address, by also providing sufficient regulatory and financial support to help the affected fishers switch to other livelihoods. Today’s success is a confidence booster for us all — and again, we could not have achieved this without you. With your support, we are optimistic that we will once again have a healthy sea full of fish for everyone to enjoy.

*The sub-legislation is scheduled to be passed automatically on 18 May 2011 without voting through the Legco’s “negative vetting” procedure, since no legislator had submitted any amendments or objections to the government’s proposed amendment bill by 11 May.