Consultancy Ref.: AFCD/FIS/02/19 Consultancy Service for Environmental Impact Assessment Study for Designation of New Fish Culture Zones

 

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report for Establishment of Fish Culture Zone at Po Toi (Southeast)

November 2022

EIA REPORT (HTML)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.             INTRODUCTION

2.         PROJECT DESCRIPTION

3.         WATER QUALITY

4.         MARINE ECOLOGY

5.         FISHERIES

6.         WASTE MANAGEMENT

7.         VISUAL

8.         CULTURAL HERITAGE

9.         ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND AUDIT

10.      SUMMARY OF ENVIRONMENTAL OUTCOMES

11.      CONCLUSION

 

 

 

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1             Location Plan for the Establishment of Fish Culture Zone (FCZ) at Po Toi (Southeast)

Figure 2.1             Potential Areas for Development of Fish Culture Zones based on Constraint Mapping

Figure 2.2             Proposed Locations for the Establishment of Fish Culture Zones

Figure 2.3             Example of the Traditional Fish Farms

Figure 2.4             Example of the Floating Gravity Cage

Figure 2.5             Example of Newer Type of Mariculture

Figure 2.6             Example of Submersible Cage for Fish Culture

Figure 2.7             Sample Layout of IMTA

Figure 2.8             Example of Deep Cage for Echinoderm Culture

Figure 2.9             Examples of (a) Lantern Nets and (b) Longlines for Bivalve Culture

Figure 2.10           Example of Semi-submersible Steel Truss Cage

Figure 3.1             Location of Water Sensitive Receivers and Nearby EPD Marine Water / Sediment Quality Monitoring Stations

Figure 3.2             Observed Total Inorganic Nitrogen Level at Po Toi FCZ from 2015-2021 (Source: AFCD Monitoring Data)

Figure 4.1             Representative Photos of Coral Survey at Po Toi (Southeast)

Figure 4.2a           Representative Photos of Drop Camera Survey at Po Toi (Southeast)

Figure 4.2b           Representative Photos of Drop Camera Survey at Po Toi (Southeast)

Figure 5.1             Fisheries Sensitive Receivers in the Assessment Area

Figure 5.2             Distribution of Fishing Operations (All Vessels) in Hong Kong Waters as recorded in AFCD Port Survey 2016/17

Figure 5.3             Distribution of Fisheries Production (All Vessels) in Hong Kong Waters as recorded in AFCD Port Survey 2016/17

Figure 7.1             VIA Assessment Area and Locations of Proposed Vantage Points (VPs) for Proposed Po Toi (Southeast) FCZ

Figure 7.2             Planning & Development Context near Proposed Po Toi (Southeast) FCZ

Figure 7.3             Detailed Locations of Proposed Vantage Points (VP1 to VP4) and Zone of Visual Influence for Po Toi (Southeast) FCZ

Figure 7.4             Aerial View of Detailed Locations of Proposed Vantage Points (VP1 to VP4) for Proposed Po Toi (Southeast) FCZ

Figure 7.5a&b      Po Toi Viewpoint 1 - View to Project Site from Cape D' Aguilar

Figure 7.6a&b      Po Toi Viewpoint 2 - View to Project Site from Tung Lung Chau

Figure 7.7a&b      Po Toi Viewpoint 3 - View to Project Site from Waters west of Tung Lung Chau

Figure 7.8a&b      Po Toi Viewpoint 4 – View to Project Site from Po Toi Island

Figure 8.1             Locations of Sonar Contacts at the Proposed FCZ at Po Toi (Southeast)

Figure 8.2             Zhenghe Navigation Map from Wu Bei Zhi showing Po Toi Island

Figure 8.3             SSS Mosiac Showing the Overview of the Seabed of Po Toi (Southeast) FCZ

Figure 8.4             SSS Rectified Image Showing Seabed Sediments, Seabed Features and Shadows from Objects in Water Column

Figure 8.5             SSS Rectified Image Showing Seabed Sediments, Seabed Features and Shadows from Objects in Water Column

Figure 8.6             SSS Rectified Image Showing Sonar Contacts D-SC005 and D-SC006

Figure 8.7             SSS Rectified Image Showing Sonar Contacts D-SC007, D-SC008 and D-SC009

Figure 8.8             SSS Rectified Image Showing Sonar Contacts D-SC013

Figure 8.9             SSS Rectified Image Showing Sonar Contact D-SC053, D-SC054 and D-SC055

 

 

 

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix 1A        Stakeholder Engagement Activities

Appendix 2A        Operation Measures and Practices

Appendix 3A        Water Quality Modelling Plan for Po Toi (Southeast) Fish Culture Zone

Appendix 3B        Assessment of Carrying Capacity of the Project Site

Appendix 3C        Contour Plots of Water Quality Parameter

Appendix 3D        Comparison of Observed Water Quality Against Time Series Plots of Predicted Water Quality at EPD Water Quality Monitoring Stations near      Project Site

Appendix 4A        Literature Review – Marine Ecology

Appendix 4B        Approved Method Statement on Marine Ecological Impact Assessment for Po Toi (Southeast) FCZ

Appendix 4C        Survey Data of Subtidal and Benthic Assemblages

Appendix 5A        Approved Method Statement on Fisheries Impact Assessment of Po Toi (Southeast) FCZ

Appendix 8A        Survey Track Plots

Appendix 8B        Side Scan Sonar Images of Sonar Contacts

Appendix 9A        Implementation Schedule of Recommended Environmental Protection Measures / Mitigation Measures

 

 

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1       Summary of the Key Considerations of Site Selection Criteria

Table 2.2       Summary of Site Evaluation

Table 2.3       Proposed Organisms and Example Species for IMTA

Table 2.4       Summary of Environmental Benefits and Dis-benefits of the Development Options and Alternative Mitigation Measures Considered for the Project

Table 3.1       Summary of Water Quality Objectives for Southern and Mirs Bay WCZ

Table 3.2       Summary of EPD Routine Water Quality Monitoring Data from Selected Stations of the Southern WCZ and Mirs Bay WCZ (1986 – 2020)

Table 3.3       Summary of EPD Routine Sediment Monitoring Data from Selected Stations of the Southern WCZ and Mirs Bay WCZ (1986 – 2020)

Table 3.4       Water Sensitive Receivers (WSRs) in the Vicinity of the Proposed FCZ Site at Po Toi (Southeast)

Table 3.5       Summary of Assessment WQO Criteria

Table 3.6       Summary of Applicable Assessment Criterion for Identified WSRs

Table 3.7       Predicted Water Quality under Baseline and Project Scenario

Table 3.8       Pollution Loading Contribution from Wasted Feed and Fish Faeces for Production Level of 1 ton at Proposed FCZs

Table 4.1       Marine Ecological Baseline Surveys

Table 4.2       Density and Indices of Richness, Evenness and Diversity of Infaunal Assemblages at the Sampling Locations for the Soft Bottom Habitat Surveys                       at the Assessment Area during the Wet Season

Table 4.3       Density and Indices of Richness, Evenness and Diversity of Infaunal Assemblages at the Sampling Locations for the Soft Bottom Habitat Surveys                       at the Assessment Area during the Dry Season

Table 4.4       Description of the Seabed Recorded along Each Transect during the Qualitative Surveys (Spot Dive Reconnaissance Check Surveys)

Table 4.5       Marine Ecological Importance of Existing Marine Reserve and SSSI within the Assessment Area

Table 4.6       Ecological Importance of Intertidal Habitats within and in the vicinity of the Project site

Table 4.7       Ecological Importance of Subtidal Hard-Bottom Habitats within and in the vicinity of the Project site

Table 4.8       Ecological Importance of Subtidal Soft Benthos Assemblages within the Project site

Table 4.9       Ecological Importance of Marine Waters within the Project site

Table 4.10     Species of Conservation Importance within the Assessment Area

Table 4.11     Approximate Shortest Distance to Marine Ecological Sensitive Receivers (SRs) around the Project site

Table 4.12     Significance of Marine Ecological Impacts Associated with the Construction and Operation of the Project Evaluated in accordance with EIAO-TM

Table 5.1       Marine Culture Fisheries Summary Statistics 2008-2021 (Source: AFCD)

Table 5.2       Distances between the FCZs in the Assessment Area and the Proposed FCZ at Po Toi (Southeast)

Table 5.3       Main Commercial Families of Fisheries Resources in Southeastern Hong Kong Waters from Fishery Surveys (Source: AFCD Hong Kong                       Fisheries Resources Monitoring Report (2010-2015)

Table 5.4       Evaluation of Fisheries Impacts in accordance with the Criteria described in Annex 9 of the EIAO-TM      

Table 6.1       Government Waste Disposal Facilities for Construction Waste

Table 6.2       Tentative Transportation Routings for Waste Disposal of General Refuse during Construction Phase

Table 6.3       Tentative Transportation Routings for Waste Disposal of Various Waste during Operation Phase

Table 6.4       Summary of Estimated Waste Arisings and Recommended Waste Management Arrangements

Table 7.1       Relationship between receptor sensitivity and magnitude of change in defining impact significance

Table 7.2       VSRs within the Predicted Visual Envelope

Table 7.3       Magnitude of Change

Table 7.4       Visual Impacts Prior to Mitigation

Table 7.5       Un-mitigated and Mitigated Impacts at the VSRs

Table 8.1       Survey Types with Objectives and Survey Spacing

Table 8.2       Equipment List

Table 8.3       Sonar contacts Summary Table

Table 10.1     Key Environmental Problems Avoided, Sensitive Areas Protected and Environmental Outcomes Achieved

Table 10.2     Key Recommended Environmental Protection / Mitigation Measures and their Associated Benefits

Table 11.1     Summary of Environmental Assessment and Outcomes – Water Quality

Table 11.2     Summary of Environmental Assessment and Outcomes – Marine Ecology

Table 11.3     Summary of Environmental Assessment and Outcomes – Fisheries

Table 11.4     Summary of Environmental Assessment and Outcomes – Waste

Table 11.5     Summary of Environmental Assessment and Outcomes – Visual Impact

Table 11.6     Summary of Environmental Assessment and Outcomes – Cultural Heritage

Table 11.7     Key Assessment Assumptions, Limitation of Assessment Methodologies and related Prior Agreement(s) with the Relevant Authorities

Table 11.8     Summary of Environmental Benefits and Dis-benefits of the Development Options and Alternative Mitigation Measures Considered for the Project