The Marine Flora and Fauna of Hong Kong and Southern China V

From 6–25 April 1998, the Tenth International Workshop on the Marine Flora and Fauna of Hong Kong and South China was convened at the Swire Institute of Marine Science of the University of Hong Kong. Thirteen scientists from six countries and twenty-two scientists and students from Hong Kong investigated aspects of the marine flora and fauna of the Cape d’Aguilar Marine Reserve and the southeastern waters of Hong Kong. This was to obtain more information about the newly-established reserve (the only one in Hong Kong) and the changes that had taken place on the seabed in the southern waters since they were dredged between 1992–1995, respectively, and, in the latter case, to see if there had been any subsequent benthic recovery.

The Proceedings of the workshop contains thirty-six original research papers dealing with aspects of the taxonomy and anatomy, behaviour and physiology of marine life in Hong Kong and Southern China. Papers also explore aspects of Hong Kong’s marine parks and reserves, including the pollution of Hong Kong’s marine life with particular reference to the Cape d’Aguilar Marine Reserve, established only in 1996, and the fauna of its territorial southern waters.

The Workshop was sponsored by the University of Hong Kong, the Croucher Foundation and the K. C. Wong Foundation so as to bring eminent overseas scientists to Hong Kong to work with their local colleagues and students. The success of the workshop concept is self-evident in the contents and scope of these proceedings. This was the eighth workshop convened in Hong Kong since 1977 and these proceedings have become the single-most important body of information on the long-term changes that have taken place in its marine environment over an extended time-frame. The volumes are also the largest regional repository of information on the marine life of the territorial waters of Hong Kong and the northern rim of the South China Sea. For those with any interest in Hong Kong’s marine environment, therefore, this proceedings and its predecessors are essential reading.