📋 Tender Overview
Following is a question by the Hon Chan Pokchi and a reply by the Acting Secretary for Environment and Ecology Miss Diane Wong in the Legislative Council today May 20
Question
At present there are over 1 000 aquaculture farmers in Hong Kong and some members of the industry are concerned about how the Government will promote the modernisation of the aquaculture industry In this connection will the Government inform this Council
1 of i the overall number of people enrolling in ii the actual number of people attending and iii the number of people successfully completing the training programmes relating to smart fish culture organised by the Government over the past three years
2 of the number of aquaculture farmers granted approval under the Sustainable Fisheries Development Fund for acquiring modernised equipment such as water quality monitoring and automated feeding systems over the past three years of the number of such farmers operating in marine fish culture zones and pond fish culture zones respectively and
3 how the Government has applied technology to assist in promoting the modernisation of the aquaculture industry including marine fish culture and pond fish culture over the past three years
Reply
President
The Government is proactively promoting the modernisation and highquality development of the local agricultural and fisheries AF industries and encouraging the industries to upgrade and transform in accordance with the Blueprint for the Sustainable Development of Agriculture and Fisheries the Blueprint Specific measures include enhancing training of talents providing financial support and facilitating technology application These measures aim to assist the industries in addressing environmental challenges steadily raising the quantity quality and value of local AF produce and pursuing sustainable and diversified development thereby benefitting the AF industries as a whole including the mariculture and pond fish culture sectors
The reply to the question raised by the Hon Chan Pokchi is as follows
1 The Agriculture Fisheries and Conservation Department AFCD signed a memorandum of understanding with the Vocational Training Council VTC in 2024 to jointly nurture talents for modernised aquaculture The AFCD assists the industry in providing internship opportunities for the VTC students to impart practical experience in aquaculture and conservation to those aspiring entrants to the industry while the VTC offers them tuition fee subsidies and onthejob training The Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education IVE under the VTC launched a parttime programme on Diploma in Modernised Aquaculture in 2025 to facilitate practicing fish farmers and other working individuals to pursue further studies during their spare time Being the first aquaculture programme in Hong Kong accredited at Level 3 of the Qualifications Framework QF the programme takes about nine months to complete and has produced 21 graduates Field trips were arranged for students to the Ta Kwu Ling Operation Centre to acquire the indoor marine fish hatchery techniques as well as to Yuen Long to visit the closed recirculating aquaculture system with a view to gaining an indepth understanding of the application of modernised aquaculture technologies
In addition to further professionalise and standardise the local fisheries training and to provide aspiring entrants with a welldefined professional recognition and a clear career path the IVE will launch the first parttime programme on Professional Diploma in Deep Sea Mariculture accredited at QF Level 4 in June this year Spanning about nine months the curriculum covers techniques and practices in deepsea mariculture science in water quality monitoring nutrition of fish feed disease prevention and management as well as modern business operations and management etc
Given the popularity of the said professional diploma programme the AFCD is actively exploring with the IVE to continue organising similar programmes in 2027 to sustain talent cultivation and meet the demands of the modernised development of the local fisheries industry
In addition the AFCD organised about 70 shortterm training activities for the industry over the past three years These included skills and knowledge training courses technical seminars workshops forums and field visits covering topics on Internet of Things IoT applications realtime monitoring technologies indoor recirculating aquaculture systems smart aquaculture management etc The accumulated number of attendees reached 770 with an overall attendance rate exceeding 90 per cent
The AFCD will continue to roll out diversified training activities and encourage the industry members to pursue continuous learning enabling them to grasp the latest technological advancements and market development trends for comprehensive enhancement of their professional competence and competitiveness
2 The Government has set up the Sustainable Fisheries Development Fund SFDF with a commitment of 1 billion which aims to support the industry in adopting sustainable and high valueadded mode of operations The Equipment Improvement Project under the SFDF provides grants to fishermen and fish farmers to upgrade their fisheries equipment or materials thereby improving their production efficiency and fostering sustainable development
Over the past three years grants have been approved for 226 aquaculture farmers including 120 marine fish farmers and 106 pond fish farmers to acquire modernised equipment The total amount of grant approved was about 1128 million The equipment they acquired with the grant included water quality control and monitoring equipment automatic feeding machines solar power generators aerators and security systems
In addition the SFDF has also subsidised projects that promote the modernisation of the aquaculture industry including the Aquaculture Extension Services for Hong Kong and the Fish Pump
