8. Marine ecology

8.2 Environmental Legislation, Policies, Plans, Standards and Criteria

8.2.1 This Section makes reference to the following guidelines, standards, documents and the HKSAR Government ordinances and regulations when identifying habitats and species of ecological importance and evaluating ecological impacts:

· Wild Animals Protection Ordinance (Cap. 170);

· Animals and Plants (Protection of Endangered Species) Ordinance (Cap. 187)

· Marine Parks Ordinance (Cap. 476) and subsidiary legislation;

· Town Planning Ordinance (Cap. 131);

· Sites of Special Scientific Interest Register;

· Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG) Chapter 10.

· Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (Cap. 499)

· Technical Memorandum on the Environmental Impact Assessment Process (EIAO-TM)

· EIAO Guidance Note Nos. 6/2002, 7/2002

8.2.2 Under the Wild Animals Protection Ordinance (Cap. 170), designated wild animals are protected from being hunted, whilst their nests and eggs are protected from injury, destruction and removal. All marine cetaceans and sea turtles are protected under this Ordinance. The Second Schedule of the Ordinance, which lists all the animals protected, was last revised in June 1992.

8.2.3 The Animals and Plants (Protection of Endangered Species) Ordinance (Cap. 187) provides protection for certain plant and animal species through controlling or prohibiting trade in the species. Certain types of corals are listed in Schedule 1 and 2 of the Ordinance, including Blue coral (Heliopora coerulea), Organ pipe corals (family Tubiporidae), Black corals (order Antipatharia), Stony coral (order Scleractinia), Fire corals (family Milleporidae) and Lace corals (family Stylasteridae). The import, export and possession of scheduled corals, no matter dead or living, is restricted.

8.2.4 The Marine Parks Ordinance (Cap. 476) and Subsidiary Legislation allows for designation, control and management of marine parks and marine reserves through regulation of activities therein to protect, conserve and enhance the marine environment for the purposes of nature conservation, education, scientific research and recreation. The Ordinance came into effect on 1 June 1995. The Authority administering marine parks and reserves is the Country and Marine Parks Authority.

8.2.5 The amended Town Planning Ordinance (Cap. 131) provides for the designation of coastal protection areas, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), Conservation Area, Country Park, Green Belt or other specified uses that promote conservation or protection of the environment. The authority responsible for administering the Town Planning Ordinance is the Town Planning Board.

8.2.6 Chapter 10 of the HKPSG covers planning considerations relevant to conservation. This chapter details the principles of conservation, the conservation of natural landscape and habitats, historic buildings, archaeological sites and other antiquities. It also describes enforcement issues. The appendices list the legislation and administrative controls for conservation, other conservation related measures in Hong Kong and government departments involved in conservation.

8.2.7 Annex 16 of the TM-EIA sets out the general approach and methodology for assessment of ecological impacts arising from a project or proposal, to allow a complete and objective identification, prediction and evaluation of the potential ecological impacts. Annex 8 recommends the criteria that can be used for evaluating habitat and ecological impact.

8.2.8 EIAO Guidance Note No. 6/2002 clarifies the requirements of ecological assessments under the EIAO.

8.2.9 EIAO Guidance Note No. 7/2002 provides general guidelines for conducting ecological baseline surveys in order to fulfil requirements stipulated in the TM-EIA.

8.2.10 Furthermore, the assessment undertaken also makes reference to the following international conventions and conservation treatises.

· Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (the “Bonn Convention”)

· United Nations Convention on Biodiversity (1992);

· The PRC National Protection List of Important Wild Animals;

· IUCN Red Data Books; and

· Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

· Key Protected Wildlife Species List

8.2.11 Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (the Bonn Convention”) has two main objectives. These are a) to provide strict protection for species listed in Appendix I of the Convention (migratory species in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of their range), and b) to encourage Range States for such species to conclude agreements for the conservation and management of Appendix II species (migratory species which have an unfavourable conservation status and require international agreements for their conservation, or which have a conservation status which would significantly benefit from international co-operation). Hong Kong was originally a Party to the Convention through the United Kingdom. The convention continues to apply to Hong Kong after 1st July 1997 by agreement of the Sino-British Joint Liason Group, though the PRC is not a party thereto.

8.2.12 The PRC are one of the Contracting Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity of 1992. The Convention requires signatories to make active efforts to protect and manage their biodiversity resources. Hong Kong Government has stated it will be ‘committed to meeting the environmental objectives’ of the Convention (PELB, 1996).

8.2.13 The IUCN Red List is the world’s most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plants and animals. It uses a set of criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies. These criteria are relevant to all species and all regions of the world. There are seven Categories of Threat in the IUCN Red List System: Extinct, Extinct in the Wild, Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Near Threatened and Least Concern. A species is listed as threatened if it falls in the Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable categories.

8.2.14 The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is a voluntary international agreement to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. PRC became a Party to the agreement in 1981.

8.2.15 The Key Protected Wildlife Species List details Category I and Category II protected animal species under Mainland Chinese Legislation.

· Oceanway (2003) Field Diving Surveys of Corals for the Engineering and Feasibility Assessment Studies (EEFS) in relation to the way forward for the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme (HATS) (with permission). Submitted to EPD. (HATS Dive Survey Report)

· CityU Professional Services (2003) Consultancy Study on Marine Benthic Communities in Hong Kong. Final Summer Field Survey Report. Submitted to AFCD.

· Scott Wilson (2001) Tseung Kwan O Development Phase III Road P2 connecting Town Centre and Western Coast Road Final EIA Report (Road P2 EIA Report).

· M₂ Environmental (2000) Tseung Kwan O Port Development at Area 131. Further Ecological Study. Submitted to TDD. (Area 131 Further Ecological Study Report)

· Maunsell (2000) Feasibility Study for Intensification and Extension of Tseung Kwan O New Town Final EIA Study (TKO Extension EIA Report).

· ERM (1999) Feasibility Study on the Alternative Alignment for the Western Coast Road, Tseung Kwan O. (Western Coast Road EIA Report).

· Jefferson T (2000) Conservation Biology of the Finless Porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides) in Hong Kong Waters: Final Report. Ocean Park Conservation Foundation. Submitted to AFCD.

· Report on Underwater Dive Surveys (October 1991 – November 1994) Volumes I & II (CED, 1995);

8.3.2 Field surveys were undertaken, where appropriate, to supplement and check the validity of data collected through the literature review process. Focused surveys were conducted on the intertidal and subtidal habitats inside and in proximity to the proposed reclamation area in the wet season from May to October 2004.

8.3.3 Potential ecological impacts arising from the development were assessed following TM-EIA Annex 16 guidelines and the impacts evaluated based on the criteria in TM-EIA Annex 8. During the assessment, particular attention was paid to species of conservation interest identified through literature review and field survey for this EIA Study.

8.4 Description of the Environment

8.4.1 Junk Bay (also known as Tseung Kwan O) is a south-facing bay located on the northern side of the Tathong Channel at the southeast part of the New Territories. To the west, its waters connect to Victoria Harbour through the narrow Lei Yue Mun Channel. To the south and south-east, its waters open into the wider Tathong Channel, which either side is bounded by the east coast of Hong Kong Island and the neighbouring coasts of the Clearwater Bay Peninsula and Tung Lung Chau.

8.4.2 Although facing the oceanic south-eastern waters of Hong Kong, in summer Junk Bay waters are within reach of the seasonal influence of the massive discharges of water from Pearl River, which extends from the west. In terms of hydrology, Junk Bay is therefore regarded as being situated close to the eastern margins of a transitional zone between Hong Kong’s oceanic eastern waters and the more estuarine western waters (Morton & Morton 1983). Details on the baseline water quality conditions in Junk Bay and adjoining channels are presented in Tables 5.5 and 5.6.

8.4.3 The Assessment Area encompasses Junk Bay and a substantial area of the adjoining coastal waters. The Assessment Area spans Victoria Harbour across Hong Kong’s eastern and south-eastern coastal waters to include Clear Water Bay, the Nine Pins island group, Sung Kong and Waglan Islands and the east coast of Hong Kong Island to Cape d’Aguilar. This assessment area comprises several broad habitat types including:

· Intertidal habitats on hard substrata such as natural rocky shore and artificial seawall.

· Intertidal habitats on mobile soft substrata such as sandy shore

· Subtidal habitats including infaunal benthic communities on soft substrata.

· Subtidal habitats on hard substrata such as coral communities.

· Marine mammal habitat for the locally resident cetacean, the Black Finless Porpoise .(Neophocaena phocaenoides)

8.4.4 The baseline marine ecological conditions of the assessment area are described in the sections below. Locations of key marine ecological resources in the assessment area are shown in Figure 8.1.

Areas of Conservation Interest

8.4.5 Within the assessment area, there are several marine areas of recognised or potential conservation interest. The Cape d’ Aguilar (Hok Tsui) Marine Reserve is located about 10km south of Junk Bay and comprises a sea area of about 18 hectares. This reserve was established in July 1996 and has been a designated SSSI since July 1990. It is also recognised as Hong Kong’s only no-take Marine Protected Area (MPA). This area supports diverse marine life including corals dominated by Platygyra sinensis, Favites abdita and Goniastrea aspera (Clark 1997, 1998), as well as some subtidal macrofaunal assemblages that are unique to the reserve (Morton & Harper 1997, Morton 1998, Morton 2003).

8.4.6 The Shek O Headland SSSI is located about 8km south of Junk Bay. This exposed rocky shore habitat was designated a SSSI in February 1998 because it is among the areas with the richest assemblages of macroalgae (seaweed) in Hong Kong.

8.4.7 The assessment area also extends as far as the coastal areas to the north of Clear Water Bay approximately 8km from Junk Bay. These shallow inshore waters to the north of Clear Water Bay support corals and were previously identified as a possible marine park (The Marine Parks and Reserves Working Group, 1990) or a potential Marine Conservation Area (Planning Department 1998), mainly due to its existing use as a recreational dive site (Morton 1998, Morton 2003).

Representative Habitats

8.4.8 Representative marine habitat of the assessment area is illustrated in Figure 8.2. Baseline information giving the ecological profile of each habitat type within the assessment area is provided below.

Rocky Shore

8.4.9 Within Junk Bay, natural rocky shore habitat is located along the western side of the bay extending from Chiu Keng Wan to Lei Yue Mun with a small stretch located along the former Junk Island on the eastern side of the bay. In recent years, natural rocky shore at the inner and east coast of Junk Bay has been almost entirely lost to large-scale reclamation.

8.4.10 Elsewhere within the Assessment Area, natural rocky shore habitat is located mainly outside Victoria Harbour, fringing the east coast of Hong Kong Island and from Joss House Bay around the coast to Clear Water Bay. Offshore islands such as Tung Ping Chau, Waglan, Sung Kong and Nine Pins are also predominantly fringed by natural rocky shores.

8.4.11 The natural rocky shore at Chiu Keng Wan in the north west corner of Junk Bay was previously surveyed in March and November 1997 with findings presented in the Western Coast Road EIA Report. Both qualitative and quantitative surveys were conducted. Qualitative surveys based on visual inspection covered approximately 500m of shoreline. Quantitative surveys used belt transects laid at 3 representative tidal heights with ten quadrats placed along each transect to assess the abundance of intertidal flora and fauna.

8.4.12 It was found that the assemblages comprised typical species of similar composition and abundance to other semi-exposed rocky shores in Hong Kong. None of the species were rare and were deemed to be of low conservation interest. Fauna found on the rocky shore at Chiu Keng Wan were represented by 27 species comprising marine snails (periwinkles: Nodolittorina trochoides, Nodolittorina vidua, Nodolittorina radiata, Littoraria articulata, Peasiella roepstorffina; whelks: Thais clavigera, Morula musiva; topshells: Chlorostoma argyrostomas, Monodonta labio; turban shells: Lunella coronata; and nerites: Nerita albicilla), barnacles (Tetraclita squamosa, Capitelum mitella), limpets (Cellana toreuma, Cellana grata, Patelloida pygmaea, Patelloida saccharina), false limpets (*Siphonaria japonica, Siphonaria sirrius***, Siphonaria atra^), chitons (Acanthopleura japonica, Ischnochiton comptus), bivalves (mussels: Septifer virgatus; oysters: Saccostrea cucullata; and ark shells: Barbatia virescens), sea anemones (Anthopleura sp.) and rock crabs (Grapsus albolineatus).

8.4.13 Algal cover on the rocky shore comprised erect coralline algae (Corallina sessilis), red encrusting algae (Peysonnelia sp., Hildenbrandtia prototypus), brown encrusting algae (Ralfsia expansa, Endopleura aurea, Hapalospongidion gelatinosum), green foliose algae (Ulva fasciata), brown turf algae (Hincksia mitchelliae), red turf algae (Gelidium pusillum, Gymnogongrus flabelliformis) and cyanobacteria (Kyrtuthrix maculans).

8.4.14 In order to check and update information on the ecological profile of rocky shore habitat at Chiu Keng Wan obtained from the literature review, ecological surveys were conducted twice at the rocky shore during the 6-month field survey period. Both qualitative and quantitative surveys were undertaken in the wet season on 21st May and 19th October 2004. Location of the surveys is shown in Figure 8.3.

8.4.15 The qualitative surveys involved visual reconnaissance along the entire Chiu Keng Wan shoreline to record general site conditions and ecological features. Quantitative information on representative rocky shore assemblages was obtained by deploying standard line transects at low tide at two representative locations on the rocky shore. The line transects were deployed perpendicular to the shore to cover from the high water mark to low water. Along each transect, standard ecological sampling quadrats (dimensions 0.5m x 0.5m) were laid at 1m intervals. Intertidal flora and fauna were identified and enumerated. In general, mobile fauna were counted to establish abundance per unit area. Abundance of sessile organisms such as barnacles, oysters, algae and cyanobacteria were estimated in terms of percentage cover per fixed area. All flora and fauna were identified to species level as far as practicable.

8.4.16 Based on reconnaissance observations, the natural rocky shore habitat was highly comparable to conditions presented in the literature. The majority of the rocky shore along the Chiu Keng Wan was similar in nature comprising southeast facing, steeply sloping bedrock slabs and tuffs of volcanic origins, which extend to a considerable height above intertidal levels. The rocky shore was generally steeper at the north of the Chiu Keng Wan coast, which included a small stretch of vertical sea cliffs occurring along at the rocky prominentry near to O King Road. In general, the rocky shore at Chiu Keng Wan was formed by bedrock with little or no boulders. An exception was the small stretches of small/medium-sized rocky boulders also occurred adjacent to the middle cove and to a lesser extent adjacent to the seawall at the north.

8.4.17 Rocky shore fauna along the Chiu Keng Wan coast comprised species typical of other semi-exposed rocky shores of eastern Hong Kong waters and followed typical vertical zonation patterns mediated by tidal exposure. Qualitative surveys in May and October 2004 revealed a similarly composed rocky shore community. On the high shore, fauna was dominated by the periwinkles (Nodolittorina spp.), while seaslaters, Ligia exotica were also present but very infrequent along the coast. At the mid-shore, assemblages were dominated by the limpet Cellana toreuma, and barnacles Tetraclita spp. and Common Top Shell Monodonata labio. On the low shore, rock oysters Saccostrea cucullata and mussels Sepifera virigatus dominated. Also occasionally seen close to the water’s edge was the Common Rock Crab, Grapsus albolineatus.

8.4.18 More detailed quantitative survey results of rocky shore assemblages at 2 representative locations on the Chiu Keng Wan coast are presented in Tables 8.1 and 8.2. Findings from the quantitative survey were highly similar to results from previous surveys of this coast reported in the literature. The only notable difference was the limited macroalgae found in the surveys for this EIA Study, compared to previous survey findings. This was explained by the surveys conducted in the hot summer months of the wet season, which are unsuitable for macroalage to survive in the intertidal zone.

Table 8.1 Composition and abundance (no. of individuals/ percentage cover per 0.25m2) of rocky shore biota at Transect 1 at the Chiu Keng Wan coast on 19th May 2004 and 19th October 2004.

Species / Distance on transect	1m	2m	3m	4m	5m	6m	7m	1m	2m	3m	4m	5m	6m	7m
Survey date	19^th May 2004							21^st October 2004
Level	High------------------------------>Low shore							High------------------------------>Low shore
Snails
Nodolittorina trochioides	96	15						69	5
Nodolittorina vidua & radiata	7	46	21					5
Monodonta labio				22	15	2				13	15
Lunella coronata
Nerita albicilla				3	1						1	2
Nerita costata
Peasiella sp.											1
Thais clavigera					1	1						1	1
Morula musiva
Barnacles
Tetraclita japonica			15		2							24
Tetraclita squamosa						1	13							19
Capitelum mitellum
Chthalmus malayensis		2
Megabalanus volcano
Limpets
Cellana toreuma				55		137					4		35	5
Cellana grata			2	2								1	2
Siphonaria japonica					1					1
S. japonica egg coils
Siphonaria laciniosa														11
Patelloida pygmaea												1
Patelloida saccharina				5	19	10					11	4
Bivalves
Septifera virgatus					4%	5%	4%
Saccostrea cucullata				2%	5%							5%	10%	5%
Perna viridis												1%		5%
Barbatia virescens
Chitons
Acanthopleura japonica											1		1	1
Crabs
Hemigrapsus sanguineus
Sea anemones
Spheractis chungae							7				1	1
Bristleworms
Perinereis cultrifera														1
Tubeworms
Hydroides sp.	33						39
Moquito larvae
Culicidae sp.
Isopods
Unidentified sp.							1				1
Algae
Hildenbrandtia rubra						10%	80%
Ulva lactuca				5%	5%	8%
Ralfsia expansa							10%
Gellidium pusillum							2%
Pseudulvella applanata														3%
Lithophyllum sp.														10%

Table 8.2 Composition and abundance (no. of individuals/ percentage cover per 0.25m²) of rocky shore biota at Transect 2 at the Chiu Keng Wan coast on 19^th May 2004 and 19^th October 2004.

Species / Distance on transect	1m	2m	3m	4m	5m	6m	1m	2m	3m	4m	5m	6m	7m	8m
Survey date	19^th May 2004						21^st October 2004
Level	High---------------------->Low shore						High------------------------------------>Low shore
Snails
Nodolittorina trochioides	9	102	4				100	190
Nodolittorina vidua & radiata	2	6	40				1	30
Monodonta labio				5	11			24	19	5		4
Lunella coronata
Nerita albicilla					1					3
Nerita costata			1
Peasiella sp.
Thais clavigera					1	1			21	5	4	3	11	4
Morula musiva														3
Barnacles
Tetraclita japonica		2	7		7	6			1			41	30
Tetraclita squamosa
Capitelum mitellum										2%	1%
Chthalmus malayensis
Megabalanus volcano					1
Limpets
Cellana toreuma				28	127	15				5	12	35	8
Cellana grata				8					1			6
Siphonaria japonica				1	7	3				1
S. japonica egg coils					3
Siphonaria laciniosa
Patelloida pygmaea											2	3
Patelloida saccharina				2	4						4	18
Bivalves
Septifera virgatus				8%	25%	3%					3%	2%	5%	5%
Saccostrea cucullata				15%		5%						4%	40%	60%
Perna viridis													5%	10%
Barbatia virescens														2%
Chitons
Acanthopleura japonica													1
Crabs
Hemigrapsus sanguineus		1
Sea anemones
Spheractis chungae					2