What tops your list of “must-see” items for Sai Kung – the sea, the sampans, the islands, the hills, the seafood? For many Hong Kong, mainland and overseas visitors, it’s the seafood that is Number One. A google search for images of “Sai Kung seafood” returns over 25,000 photos of some kind of marine specimen that enthralled the camera owner. The majority of them were taken along the waterfront, looking down at the into the boats that gather by the pier selling live seafood, or occasionally of fish flopping around in small tanks by the seafood restaurants. To many photographers (and even diners with camera phones), it is a type of “show and tell” experience of what has become an icon of Sai Kung.
Particularly on weekends and public holidays, Sai Kung’s waterfront walkway is chock-a-block with people out for a walk, coming and going from boat trips or the golf course, walking their dogs, taking photographs, or vying for space to grab a deal on some seafood for dinner. There is certain reverence among the locals and a fascination among visitors in buying a “fresh” fish and taking it, either alive and kicking or freshly cleaned and gutted, to a nearby restaurant for lunch or dinner.
A possible threat to this bustling and unique Sai Kung scenario is lurking in the background. Some discussion has taken place within the Sai Kung District Council and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) about the marine hawkers causing problems – congestion, dangerous practices and uncontrolled, unhygienic conditions. It is unknown yet whether any action is planned to attempt to control or change the present situation.
Are there too many people crowding the waterfront, checking out the marine vendors’ offerings? Is their handling of the seafood and money exchange over the side of the pier dangerous? Should we be worried about the cleanliness of the seafood sold?
Explore’s informal Sunday survey of Chinese-speaking visitors’ attitudes to the seafood sold at the waterfront found that close to half who were looking would definitely buy something for their next meal. Most visitors we talked to came from other parts of Hong Kong, on average once or twice a month. Several mentioned that they felt these marine-based seafood vendors were a “special part of Sai Kung” and that it was the reason they came there to buy their dinners.
We also found that buyers and gawkers alike said they w
ere not at all worried about the quality of the seafood or the hygiene at the location, and some even said it was no different than buying at the wet market.
In truth, some of the seafood sold by these marine vendors does indeed come from the wet market. Often a family or a couple operate a stall in Sai Kung’s wet market and get their supply of “fresh” seafood from the big fish markets in Aberdeen or Shau Kei Wan. Some people raise fish locally and send a boatful over to the pier. Still others actually go out and catch the fish; you can usually tell which ones they are, as their stock runs out quickly or their boats have little stock to start with.
Both the fish brought in from other markets or raised would normally have been subjected to FEHD regulations initially, so if you’re not worried about buying seafood from Sai Kung’s wet market, then it would seem that buying fish from the waterfront are no different. On the other hand, there may be an issue with how that seafood is stored once it leaves the market or pond, and how it’s kept on the boat, especially in the heat of the summer. At the same time, it is true, and somewhat worrying, that these vendors are not properly licensed.
As for getting a deal for your dinner – it’s really more about the “show” than getting a bargain for your fish. Unless you get to the waterfront around dusk when desperate vendors are dropping their prices before they go home, you will be paying just about the same prices as in the wet market.
Despite the waterfront scene losing a bit of shine once you know the nitty gritty details, the marine vendors there have long been an integral part of Sai Kung’s attraction. Without the seafood sales show – the customers jostling for position, the haggling over price, the exchange of money in nets on a long pole, the final pleasure of carrying away a still kicking fish – would Sai Kung Town lose a piece of its appeal? Explore hopes that, if any action is taken to make the area “tidier” or “more hygienic”, that it will be done with care and consideration for tourism as well as economic development.
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