The Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department is releasing 16,000 fish fingerlings this week to enhance fisheries resources in Hong Kong waters. It is the fourth time in five years the department has released fingerlings.

Fifteen-thousand green grouper fingerlings, and 1,000 high-finned grouper fingerlings are being released in artificial reefs at marine parks and in northeastern waters.

Groupers suitable for fry release

Department Assistant Director Cheung Man-kwong said past release trials showed groupers are a suitable species for fry release to enhance fisheries resources in artificial reef areas.

"We have selected artificial reefs as the releasing sites because they provide a suitable habitat for shelter and protection. To prevent depleting natural fingerling resources, artificially-propagated fingerlings are used," he said.

Effectiveness to be assessed

The exercise aims to assess the cost-effectiveness of releasing smaller size green grouper fingerlings and see whether some rare and high-valued species such as high-finned grouper can be reintroduced into Hong Kong waters by restocking.

Pre-release surveys have been conducted to collect the baseline data on the release sites. Post-release surveys will also be carried out at regular intervals to assess the effectiveness of the release.