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TRASH STALKERS

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EVEN AFTER DECADES of trawling local waters for a good catch, Fung Yung-mui is amused by what she hauled out recently: a rattan couch. Now part of the armada charged with clearing refuse from Victoria Harbour, her motorised sampan is cluttered with the usual plastic bags and detritus from the marine industry.

But Fung shakes her head at the sight of the couch - a three-seater that was in pretty good shape even after the dunking. 'We pulled this one off Sai Ying Pun - and believe me, it took some work dragging it out,' says the former fisherwoman. Fung steers the sampan while colleague Fook Puk-kei stands on deck and surveys the water for the next bit of trash.

Having worked as a harbour cleaner for five years, Fung has cleared all manner of flotsam bobbing on the waves, from furniture to bloated animal carcasses. Thankfully, so far she hasn't encountered any corpses. Apart from the couch, the haul that day included half a rotten watermelon, an empty cement bag, styrofoam lunchboxes and a condom wrapper. Nothing too difficult - until her partner sees a metre-wide wooden barrow floating just off Golden Bauhinia Square.

With heavy waves rocking the boat, Fook and Fung struggle to haul it out of the water. But their valiant efforts are appreciated: there are cheers from a group of mainland tourists in the square when the pair finally drag the piece on deck. 'Well, somebody's got to do it,' says Fung, returning to the vessel's controls, drenched but pleased to get attention for what she says is an overlooked service.

In fact, she's part of a significant squad: according to the Marine Department, which contracts out harbour cleaning, a flotilla of 30 vessels manned by 80 workers trawl Victoria Harbour daily.

And there's a worrying increase in the amount of rubbish collected from our waters. According to department statistics, the quantity has risen steadily from 4,930 tonnes in 2000 to 6,159 tonnes in 2003. There was a slight dip in 2004 to 6,056 tonnes, but the figure rose to a record high of 6,165 tonnes last year. The harbour haul typically accounts for more than half of the litter collected in Hong Kong waters, which rose from 8,713 tonnes in 2000 to 11,727 tonnes last year. Kam Sack-hung, of the Marine Department's pollution-control unit, attributes the increase partly to more resources being allocated to remove such blights in the harbour. Waterfront developments add to the pile. 'An increase in urban population [on both sides of the harbour] also inevitably leads to more garbage in the sea,' says Kam.

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