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SECTION
3 NATURAL RESOURCES CAPITAL STOCK
| 3.3 |
Agriculture
and Fisheries |
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| 3.3.1
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Existing
Capital Stock and Trends |
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| Agriculture
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| 3.3.1.1 |
Although
agriculture was once a common land use in
Hong Kong, the amount of land available
for agriculture has declined consistently
for many years. Data provided by AFCD (cited
in WWF 1999) suggests that the total area
of cultivated lands (excluding fish ponds)
was reduced by more than 50% between 1954
and 1996. At present only 2,900 hectares
(less than 3% of Hong Kong's land area)
is devoted to agricultural production()
with the remainder existing as abandoned
or fallow land (AFD 1998). Those areas which
are in active production are utilised as
follows: 44% is used for fish farming, 33%
for market gardening, 21% for orchards and
2% for field crops.
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| 3.3.1.2 |
The
limited availability of agricultural land
means that Hong Kong is a net importer of
agricultural products. For example, only
13.9% of the SAR's fresh vegetable requirement
of 459,280 tonnes in 1997 was locally produced.
Similarly, Hong Kong's self-sufficiency
ratio for live pigs and live poultry was
12.6% and 19% respectively in 1997 (AFD
1998). Although the number of pigs reared
in Hong Kong has increased in recent years
(305,600 pigs in 1997 compared with only
207,570 in 1995), the total number of pigs
slaughtered in Hong Kong (which includes
pigs reared in the Mainland) has declined
over the same period. It is postulated that
this is due to either a reduced demand for
pork or an increase in frozen pork imports.
The numbers of chicken, duck and quail produced
locally have also declined, partly as a
result of the avian flu outbreak. Despite
the importance of imports to the Hong Kong
demand for foodstuffs, local production
in 1997 realised a total value of $1,378
million.
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| Silviculture |
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| 3.3.1.3 |
Although
Hong Kong has historically grown and harvested
timber as a source of fuel (up until the
Second World War), silvicultural activity
in Hong Kong is now minimal. There is no
longer any local production of wood in Hong
Kong and all wood supply depends on imports
(WWF 1999).
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| 3.3.1.4 |
Approximately
220 square kilometres of Hong Kong are estimated
to be covered by natural and established woodlands
(CSD 1997). Although the SAR's non-natural
woodlands are sometimes referred to as plantations,
they exist as a result of planting in water
catchment areas and Country Parks to increase
habitat complexity and as a means of reducing
erosion on slopes, rather than for timber
production. Non-natural woodlands have also
come into existence as a result of planting
in urban fringe areas such as Green Belts,
in Countryside Conservation Areas and in areas
disturbed by former activities such as restored
borrow areas. Further discussion of woodland
and plantation habitats as a component of
the ecological resources natural capital stock
is provided in Paragraphs 4.2.1.79 - 4.2.1.146. |
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| Pond
Culture
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| 3.3.1.5 |
Most
of Hong Kong's pond culture production is
concentrated in the north west New Territories.
In 1978, the total area of productive inland
fishponds was 1,970 hectares which declined
by 14% to 1,700 ha in 1990 and by a further
14% to 1,475 ha in 1998 (CSD 1997; WWF 1999).
Of the remaining 1,475 ha currently still
in production up to 350ha is left fallow at
any one time. |
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| 3.3.1.6 |
Operations
consist of either polyculture (of grass carps
in combination with tilapia and grey mullet)
or monoculture (of carnivorous fish such as
snakehead or catfish). Very small quantities
of shrimp and fish production are also yielded
from gei wais (intertidal ponds) at Mai Po
marshes adjacent to Deep Bay. Total local
production of freshwater fish (live, fresh
and frozen) was 4,900 tonnes in 1998 which
comprised 11% of Hong Kong's consumption in
that year (AFD 1999b). |
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| Mariculture |
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| 3.3.1.7 |
Marine
fish culture (mariculture) involves rearing
of marine fish from fry or fingerlings to
marketable size in cages suspended in sheltered
inshore waters. The industry developed in
Hong Kong in the 1960s in response to the
local demand for live marine fish and declining
wild marine stocks (WWF 1999). Now nearly
a quarter of the live marine culture fish
consumed in Hong Kong is sourced from local
mariculture activity. It is estimated that
in 1998, 1,200 tonnes of live marine fish
were harvested from 26 fish culture zones()
(FCZs) covering a total sea area of 209 hectares,
with 1,480 licensed operators (AFD 1999b).
Oyster farming is also carried out in the
Deep Bay area, though declining water quality
has reduced the harvest to around 60 tonnes
yr-1 of oyster meat. Impacts on mariculture
from red tides are discussed in Paragraphs
5.2.1.15 - 5.2.1.16 - Assimilative Capacity
of Marine Water. |
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