Local breeders of giant grouper are pushing to get their fish on to more tables this Lunar New Year. They say the quality of the fish - on show for the first time at an annual celebration of local produce - is superior to that of imported varieties.
The fish, along with organically grown pumpkins, are the theme products for the fifth FarmFest, a three-day event that opened yesterday at Fa Hui Park, Mong Kok.
'Unlike imported ones, local giant grouper are more reliable in quality with a purer flavour thanks to a stricter inspection process and premium fish feed,' Fish Marketing Organisation market manager Henry Yip Hin-wai said.
'Ten-catty (6kg) groupers are most common in street markets,' Yip said. 'But we provide smaller ones weighing one to 1.5 catties so customers have more options.'
The grouper are raised on 15 farms in the city under the Accredited Fish Farm Scheme launched by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department in 2005 to regulate the quality of fish farms.
'It ensures stable productivity in the local market,' fisheries officer Anna Situ Ying-yi said. The farms can raise a minimum of 50,000 giant groupers each year. They would be ready for market in one to three years, depending on size, she said.
