Under the latest proposals the fishermen with “bone fide” fishing licenses will be paid an Ex Gratis Allowance equivilent to seven years catch. This seems to be fair and in our opinion is a generous compensation to fishermen, afterall they will still be able to fish.
Unfortunately the legislators still seem to have the idea that efforts to revitalise the marine environment is detrimental to the fishermens livelihood. We beg to disagree. Continuing to extract fisheries resources in the current manner is killing the industry and ensuring the death of the long standing fishing community in Hong Kong.
Living Seas Hong Kong has long campaigned for an expansion of the existing marine parks as well as the setting up of extensive areas of completely protected marine reserves. Banning commercial fishing is only the first tiny step towards this goal.