wild places | wild happenings | wild news
make a difference for our wild places

home | links | search the site
  all articles latest | past | articles by topics | search wildnews
wild news on wildsingapore
  Straits Times 22 Jul 07
Algae bloom Price gloom
Lovers of Chinese hairy crabs may have to pay more next year as farming is cut back to improve water quality in lakes

HONG KONG - PRICES for mouth-watering hairy crabs could go up after the Chinese authorities ordered crab farms at two lakes to scale back their operations.

Industry players and officials have assured that prices for the coming October-December peak season are not likely to be affected as supply is plentiful this year, but they could increase next year.

Farming takes place at 10 lakes across the eastern province of Jiangsu, but the best breeds come from Yangcheng Lake and Lake Tai, where crab farming will be gradually phased out to improve the water quality.

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post said yesterday the amount of space allocated to breeding the crabs at both lakes will be cut by 60 per cent this year, and probably down to zero by next year.

The decision to reduce crab breeding space, said the Post, came after Lake Tai, the country's third largest freshwater lake, suffered a massive algae outbreak in May.

Water supply for millions in the neighbouring city of Wuxi was cut off for days after putrid-smelling and yellowish water flowed from their taps. Since then, China has experienced a series of algae outbreaks in other lakes, prompting its environmental watchdog to ban a range of industrial and farming activities in and around major lakes earlier this month.

Algae blooms typically occur in waters rich with nutrients from untreated sewage, as well as agricultural and industrial waste. The use of feeds and other materials in the crab pens pollutes the water and crabs are particularly destructive to macrophytes, a type of aquatic plant.

There has been no reports of algae outbreaks in Yangcheng Lake, but it is a major source of drinking water for the city of Suzhou and its water quality has been deteriorating due to the over-farming.

Quoting a report from China News Service, the Post said more than 80 per cent of the lake was occupied by crab farms in 2001 but the authorities have managed to bring the figure down.

'We need to protect the environment, but we also need to protect the livelihood of the crab farmers. That is why we are looking into issues like compensation and effective implementation of the new rules,' Mr Wu Linkun told China Food Network.

He is the vice-chairman of Lake Tai Fisheries Management Committee. Crab farmer Cheng Weifeng, who owns a 4ha farm on Yangcheng Lake, is concerned about his future.

'We put only 500 juvenile crabs in 0.06ha of water and probably get 300 adult crabs. We can't put the same amount of juvenile ones in reduced areas of water because it will affect the weight and size of the crabs,' he said. 'If no crab farms are allowed, what can we crab farmers do to make a living?' he told The Post.

Mr Kay Kwong Nan, owner of a crab wholesale and retail outlet in Hong Kong, predicts prices of crabs from Yangcheng Lake will increase by 30 per cent next year.

'The Yangcheng Lake crabs are less popular in Hong Kong compared with seven or eight years ago. They have a stinky smell and have less oil now due to the worsening quality of the lake water,' he told The Post.

In China, hairy crabs are farmed only in Jiangsu, whose 950km coastline is ideal for seafood cultivation. Ninety per cent of the crabs are consumed within China, while the remainder is exported mainly to Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The peak season for feasting on hairy crabs is from October to December, when the female crabs are full of roe.
links
Wuxi counts costs of algae crisis By Chua Chin Hon Straits Times 11 Jun 07

Related articles on Global: general issues
about the site | email ria
  News articles are reproduced for non-profit educational purposes.
 

website©ria tan 2003 www.wildsingapore.com