How US$64 billion Hong Kong reclamation plan would destroy fishermen’s livelihoods
- The HK$500 billion project to ease Hong Kong’s housing crisis would drive fishing families from what some say is the city’s best fishing spot
- Many are too old to retrain for other jobs
It is an overcast day and Lai Shui-sing, his face weathered from years at sea, pulls in his net with a strength that defies his 66 years. As the netting piles up on his small blue boat, his 58-year-old wife, who does not want to be named, expertly separates the catch from the mangled mesh – today it is mostly blue crabs – throwing them into the hold below.
Lai has been fishing the waters off Peng Chau for more than 60 years, ever since he was a child, and has lived on the small island, located eight kilometres (five miles) west of Hong Kong Island, for more than 40 years.
But Hong Kong’s fishing industry has been declining for decades after peaking in the 1960s, when it supported about 10,000 fishing vessels. Today there are only about half as many, according to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD). The decline has been accelerated by a combination of factors, including a 2013 ban on trawling, ageing fishermen and a lack of interest in the industry among younger generations (Lai’s six sons and one daughter did not follow in his fishing footsteps).
Today around 10,500 local fishermen are involved in the industry, working mainly for family businesses operating small fishing boats and sampans, the AFCD says.
The area Lai is fishing in is open and choppy. Landmarks such as the Tsing Ma Bridge, which looms large to our left, and the chimneys of Lamma Island Power Station, which stand to attention ahead of us, provide basic bearings.
Lai says this is a popular fishing ground that attracts fishermen from all around, including from Lamma, Cheung Chau, Tuen Mun and Shau Kei Wan. Fishermen from mainland China also work these waters, he adds, “even though they have many spots to choose from”.