Yesterday, we began to tackle the heaps of ghost nets washed up on Pebbles Beach (aka Area 51) in Tap Mun. However, myself, Warren, and Bagus were only able to dent the mass. A generous family came down to help as well as a new friend from Sheung Shui named Wingkie.  After six hours of cutting we were able to remove just 10 bags of fish nets, probably several hundred pounds. Yet, the tangled mass is still there as well as a thick layer of polystyrene spread across the top of the shore. We can't do this alone. We need an army.  So, can anyone come out April 21st to help please? You need strong pruners, wire cutters, work gloves, and waste bags. You also need a bit of muscle because we have to carry the waste up a hillside unless someone is willing to donate the use of their boat to transport the waste to Wong Shek Pier. I will be down there from 9:30 in the morning. 

Ghost nets are a problem with education, regulation, and enforcement. As of today March 31, 2019, a day that marks the end of the financial year for all businesses and organisations in Hong Kong, I still do not see a single shred of marine waste focused education on the Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department's (AFCD) website. Check it yourself. Do a search for "marine waste" and see what you can find.  Sure there is a "Take Your Litter Home" message on the frontpage, but this only relates to the AFCD's decision to remove rubbish bins from the country parks.  Why is this?

When the problem of marine waste represents such a critical threat to not only our environment, but the livelihoods of fishermen, fish product markets, restaurants, and hotels that depend on our marine resources to sustain their own companies and pay salaries to their employees, why does gov.hk continue to ignore the severity of the problem? Moreover, how do we not know that the high prevalence of cancer in our society is not related to toxins found inside the food we eat? Studies around the world have proved that the same toxins in the plastics at sea are also being found in the fish and in our own bodies. For the sake of the people, why doesn't gov.hk take this issue seriously?  The world is making changes, why does gov.hk continue to look the other way?

Please keep pushing this petition. In the last two weeks I think we have created more signatures than I was able to in the previous two years. This is awesome.  But, it's only 1,600.  Please help me to continue this momentum and encourage others to sign. Getting proper education of marine waste in the new AFCD visitor centre is only just the start. It needs to become an interdepartmental urgent priority.

Like the saying goes, you are what you eat.  So, sign for the environment. Sign for your friends and family who depend on the ocean for their livelihoods. Sign for those who we have lost or who are currently fighting for the lives to cancer.  Together we can shape change.

Thank you,

Chris