The Pearl River estuary is seriously polluted, according to a survey conducted by the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey organization. 

 

"We found 95 percent of the 2,500-square-metre sea area we examined was excessively contaminated," said Xia Zhen, head of the survey team, yesterday.

 

Xia and his team have been testing sea-water areas of the estuary since 2003.

 

The contamination includes heavy metals, oil, nitrogen, ammonia and other chemical matter.

 

The level of contamination is higher than standards set by the State Environmental Protection Administration.

 

In 2004, nearly 2.5 million tons of pollutants produced by agriculture and industry flowed into the mouth of the Pearl River.

 

The survey revealed that over 200 kinds of fish previously spawned and lived in the area.

 

"But more and more fish have moved away from the polluted sea or have died from the toxic water," said Xia. "Few fish can survive there now."

 

One fisherman who spoke to China Daily has been fishing in Shenzhen Bay for dozens of years.

 

"Our fishing boat used to be fully loaded with fish as long as we cast our nets a few miles out to sea," he said. "Today we sometimes can hardly find a fish even if we sail 10 miles out to sea."

 

Besides fishermen's livelihoods, the ecosystem of the area is also under threat.

 

Xia said mangrove swamps were disappearing. "All the changes are affecting people's daily lives," he said.

 

Apart from investigating the levels of pollution, Xia and his team also spent two years searching for its source.

 

Sea reclamation projects and over exploitation of sea sand are two of the main reasons for the changes, according to the survey group.

 

Xia said land reclamation was changing the coastline of the Pearl River, something that is weakening the power of the sea's current, which helps clean the area.

 

Chen Guangrong, director of the Guangdong Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau, said yesterday that over 2 billion tons of sewage drained into the Pearl River estuary last year.

 

But he said the province intends to build a sewage disposal system in the near future.

 

The 6,000-square-kilometre sea area of the Pearl River estuary covers the coastlines of many economically developed cities and regions, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Hong Kong.

 

The Pearl River estuary is believed to be the dirtiest part of the river.

 

(China Daily June 22, 2005)