All main political parties - except the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong - have made the protection of the harbour a part of their election platforms.
But DAB chairman Ma Lik and the party's candidates running in the Hong Kong Island constituency said they were including harbour-protection policies in their individual platforms. DAB candidates in Kowloon East and New Territories East made the same pledge.
The Society for Protection of the Harbour sent letters to all 159 Legco election candidates in July asking if they would include harbour protection in their platforms.
Of the 88 candidates running for geographical constituencies, 57 said they would. Angus Ho Hon-wai, the society's campaign manager, described the response from the geographical constituencies as 'pretty good'.
The response from functional constituency candidates was not as strong, with only 18 out of 71 expressing support. A further 17 said protecting the harbour was already in their party's platforms, while 36 did not reply.
'When there are city-wide issues, functional constituency candidates tend not to respond. They focus on issues related to their professional interests,' society chairwoman Christine Loh Kung-wai said.
