In the midst of yet another reported fish contamination scandal in Hong Kong last week, a frightening scenario was suggested by physicist George Woodman: what if the voracious fish eaters of Hong Kong and the mainland decided the only way they could safeguard their health from the continuous fish contamination scares was to switch from farmed seafood to the cheaper 'bombed' version?
'Bombed' is the term Dr Woodman and a small group of Hong Kong aquatic enthusiasts use to describe the destructive practice of dynamite fishing - blowing up a reef and killing as many fish as possible while at the same time ripping a large hole in the fragile marine environment.
Maybe consumers would think bombed fish would be perfectly safe to eat, as no self-respecting farmer would allow sticks of dynamite to contaminate the harvest he relies on for his livelihood.
The reefs are far enough from Hong Kong to be out of sight, out of mind for many consumers who might worry about the environment. Dynamite fishing also has a long history in Hong Kong, and is still common, according to local divers and environmentalists.
The ominous vision of Dr Woodman, who has dedicated years of research to the marine environment, was fuelled last week by a report from Malaysia - a dynamite fishing heartland - which found Hong Kong and the mainland's appetite for fresh seafood was stripping Southeast Asia's coral reefs of fish.
The study by Cambridge University scientists of the fishing community of Kudat, Sabah, from 1995 to 2003 found significant declines of several coral reef species particularly favoured in the fresh tanks at restaurants in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland.