Tai Tau Chau also known for its less popular name Urn Island, is an island in the water body Sham Tuk Mun (),

Sai Kung District Sai Kung District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China. The district comprises the southern half of the Sai Kung Peninsula, the Clear Water Bay Peninsula in the New Territories and a strip of lan ...

, Hong Kong.

Inner Port Shelter Port Shelter, known in Cantonese as Ngau Mei Hoi (), is a harbour south of Sai Kung Peninsula in Hong Kong. The water body connects to Inner Port Shelter (known in Cantonese as Sai Kung Hoi; ), as well as Hebe Haven (), Rocky Harbour () and ot ...

and Rocky Harbour are in close proximity to the island.

History

The name Urn Island was mentioned in ''Asiatic Pilot'' by the

U.S. Hydrographic Office The United States Hydrographic Office prepared and published maps, charts, and nautical books required in navigation. The office was established by an act of 21 June 1866 as part of the Bureau of Navigation, Department of the Navy. It was transfe ...

in 1910. The book described that vessels can enter Rocky Harbour from Port Shelter by passing through water passage near islets Urn Island (Tai Tau Chau) and Yim Tin Tsai. The book recommends to use sea chart as a guide, as the channel is narrow. Since the 1980s, some part of the island became an approval burial site for fishermen.

Biodiversity

62 species of vascular plant were discovered on the island.

Economy

Several floating fish farms were located in the waters next to the island, known as Tai Tau Chau Fish Culture Zone. In 1982, councillors of the Sai Kung District Board, had requested to expand the area of the Fish Culture Zone, in order to accommodate fishermen from nearby . In 1989, a refugee camp for Vietnamese was proposed to establish on

High Island Geologically, a high island or volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed ...

, a former island that near to the Fish Culture Zone. Councillors and fishermen worried that sea water of the Fish Culture Zone would be polluted by the increasing human population. In the past, the fish rafts were used for commercial

fish farming upright=1.3, Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye">mariculture.html" ;"title="Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture">Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye, Scotland Fish farming or ...

. Brown-dotted grouper and red grouper were the dominant species to culture in the Tai Tau Chau Fish Culture Zone. However, in recent years some of them were converted to use by the tourists for recreational fishing. Red tides were also observed, affecting the Fish Culture Zone. In 2019, a teen tourist was drowned in a fish farm of the island.

Permitted Burial Ground

The island hosts Permitted Burial Grounds (PBGs), land used for graves. In 2021, the government took action against illegal burials on the island.

References

{{Sai Kung District Islands of Hong Kong Sai Kung District Populated places in Hong Kong