Hong Kong is an economically rich country (run by China) with not one single fisheries law. Actually after 30 years of work WWF still has not succeeded in implementing any fisheries or marine conservation plans.
The government spent billions on the development of an artificial reef system, which in retrospect has being completely unsuccessful as fishing may occur over the reefs. The marine protected areas have been a failure as you are allowed to fish in them. It appears and this comes from a discussion from regarding this situation, that government deliberately sabotages itself regarding marine resource conservation.
Hong Kong has an incredible fish trade, but the importation of fish follow no rules, i.e. importing live fish is not seen as food, but pets, for which there are no regulations. This has spurred an incredible black market trade for endangered and illegally caught fish from Philippines and Indonesia. Fish are lucrative commodities and it is not in Hong Kong’s economic interest to curb the trade by implementing and enforcing fisheries management and trade regulations.
Diving off Hong Kong told a sad story, fish represented great species diversity, yet abundance was non-existent. The underwater ecology of Hong Kong is therefore a mere glimpse at the potential and the beauty that once was there. The head of WWF marine program in Hong Kong has resigned stating that Hong Kong conservation needs an economist not a biologist; his words could not be truer.
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