I just received a mailing from WWF about a petition to increase no take zones and better control fishing in the waters around Hong Kong. Some of the facts presented are startling:
Hong Kong's waters were once abundant with marine life, including 80 species of hard coral and around 1,000 species of fish including Sharks, Manta rays and Green turtles.
But today this once magnificent marine environment is suffering from pollution, development and overfishing. Things have got so bad that certain species are now heading towards extinction and the average weight of a local fish caught from trawling today is less than 10 grams!
Don't let Hong Kong's natural marine life be lost forever
Hong Kong is one of the most intensively fished places in the world with some areas being trawled with heavy weighted nets several times a day. As a result of uncontrolled fishing, populations of many species have crashed under a barrage of threats.
But it doesn't have to be like this. WWF believes the solution is to identify protection zones, which would enable marine life to survive undisturbed and thrive again.
If you would like to see more details and sign the petition, here is the link:
http://passport.panda.org/campaigns/action...;uActionId=2541
Cheers,
Marli
