A red tide monitoring zone was set up recently in Xincun Port of Li Autonomous County of Lingshui in south China's Hainan Province.

This is one of the 17 such zones to be set up in China in 2003, according to the State Oceanic Administration.

The new monitoring zone, the first in Hainan, will help control the red tide in the South China Sea.

The zone has five regular stations and will conduct daily monitoring and also has laboratories on microbiology, fish disease pathology and biological toxicity. The zone can monitor water quality, biology and weather in the area.

When the red tide occurs, an emergency mechanism will be triggered immediately and corresponding measures will help reduce its damage.

Xincun Port is a top-level fishing port in China. In 2002, the port brought in 1,300 tons of fish in its net box, with the production value being 58.5 million RMB yuan (7 million US dollars). The large scale of the net box makes the area very sensitive to the red tide.

(Xinhua News Agency May 9, 2003)