Jockey Club may face HK$10m bill over contaminated horse feed
Contaminated horse feed that ended up being given to freshwater fish could result in big compensation payout to farmers in New Territories
The Hong Kong Jockey Club could be facing a compensation bill of HK$10 million after hundreds of thousands of freshwater fish in the New Territories were given contaminated horse feed and will have to be culled.
The feed was in 2,000 bags offloaded by the Jockey Club six months ago after it was found to contain the banned weight and muscle-builder zilpaterol, a spokeswoman for the club confirmed. She said the bags were improperly transferred by front-line staff to an external party for handling, and ended up being used as fish feed by farmers in the New Territories.
"All affected farmers have stopped harvesting fish that were given the feed," the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said. "No affected fish made it onto the market."
It is understood that the contaminated feed was given to nine fish farmers in the northwestern New Territories, where it was used in 15 ponds of freshwater fry that would reach saleable size in eight to 12 months. Affected fish included species common in cooking such as striped mullet, tilapia, dace and grass carp.
He said at least four of the farmers had agreed with the Jockey Club's compensation terms, while the rest were still negotiating. One fish farmer said the Jockey Club would pay HK$5 for each fish affected - meaning he would receive a total of HK$300,000 in compensation for giving the contaminated feed to one of his 13 ponds of fry.