Gangs of mainlanders poaching fish and crabs from the Mai Po nature reserve are giving officials the slip - by racing across the marshlands on home-made 'mud boards'.
Police and officers from the Agriculture and Fisheries Department are practically left stuck in the mud as the thieves paddle off from their captors on pieces of wood that skate across the marshes.
'Up to 15 mainlanders at a time can be seen sneaking out at Mai Po near the boundary on the Hong Kong side once the tide goes out,' a government source said. 'They catch mud skippers [fish] and set up nets to trap crabs. They have also erected up to 10 huts with wooden boards and nylon sheets as shelters on the edge of mangroves and sometimes sleep inside overnight.
'When officers go through mangroves and approach them, they jump on their home-made mud boards and skid over marsh to escape. If we run into the muddy area, we sink and get stuck in the mud.'
The poachers then swim across the Sham Chun River which separates Hong Kong and Shenzhen and get back on board the boats that brought them to the edge of the Mai Po marshes.
The mud boards are made of a metre-long piece of wood with a handle. The user stands on the board with one leg and uses the other to propel himself.
The source said the poachers usually brought their harvest to the mainland and sold them in wet markets for dozens of dollars a catty.