An inter-departmental red tide working group reported Friday two red tide areas within Hong Kong waters to keep the public informed of the latest monitoring situation.

A spokesman for the working group said a red tide was observed by staff of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) at Deep Bay on February 4. The red tide was dissipating.

Another red tide was also observed by EPD staff at Shing Mun River Thursday and still persisted Friday.

The spokesman said the two species of red tide had been observed in Hong Kong waters before and they were non-toxic.

He added that red tide was a natural phenomenon. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department's pro-active and comprehensive monitoring program would continue monitoring red tide occurrence to minimize its impact on the mariculture industry.

However, oceanographers warned that increasing frequencies of large-area red tide are an indication of a worsening oceanographic environment and may lead to economic losses.

(Xinhua News Agency February 7, 2003)