Hk Organic Industry

1.1.1 Organic Industry in Hong Kong

Eco-fish will be an addition to the already booming organic food industry in Hong Kong. The organic and natural sector in Hong Kong has experienced dramatic growth in recent years due to rapidly rising demand for such category of products therefore the sector is moving more towards main stream. The local market is large enough to accommodate both giant and small players. Consequently initiatives such as the opening of Asia’s largest retailer for natural and certified organic food in Hong Kong highlight this trend. Thus at present there are over 300 independent natural and organic retail outlets. In terms of organic vegetables, the local industry predicts there are approximately 10,000 regular consumers of organic vegetables, and 100,000 non-regular consumers. Currently the demand exceeds supply and therefore over 60 long-abandoned plots of varying sizes in New Territories are converted into organic farms, and many farms in the Pearl River Delta have also switched to organic farming.

The Hong Kong SAR Government also provides ample support to boost the progress of organic farming and certification in Hong Kong. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department helps participants to distribute local organic vegetables through the Vegetable Marketing Organization (VMO) as a part of the Organic Conversion Scheme. A voluntary scheme is run by the department to certify good quality fish with "accredited fish farm" logo tagged to their fins in order to restore the public's confidence following the malachite green scares. Moreover, the Hong Kong Organic Resources has implemented a range of quality-control measures – close to 30 organic farms have been certificated so far.

1.1.2 Eco-fish Industry in Hong Kong

Hong Kong fishing industry is facing two main issues: vulnerability and undervaluation. In search of ways to improve and tackle the complexity of such issues, we will highlight the roots leading to such problems and how the concept of Eco-fish was