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The plate of crispy crucian carp looked appetising. But the Apple Daily reporter, who was seated inside a Filipino restaurant, had a different kind of catch of the day in mind.
The reporter had trailed two men to a drain in Sheung Shui in Hong Kong's New Territories on Dec 22, and what he saw there disgusted him.
The stench of dead animals was in the air, and there was also the sight of drain water stained with oil and waste. Used soft drink cans, plastic and detergent bottles were also spotted at a drain gate.
But worse was to come as the men started casting their nets in the drain, which was more than 1m wide and whose waters led to the Ng Tung River in Hong Kong's New Territories.
The men, who were described as South Asians, were fishing about 50m from where a dead dog was spotted in the drain.
After collecting their haul, which was estimated to be about 100kg of fish, the men then sat down at another part of the drain and scaled and washed the fish.
They then rode away on their bicycles and transported the fish to an abandoned fish farm.
Days later, the Apple Daily reporter turned up at the same spot to watch and photograph the men again.
Trailed second man
After packing up their catch, the men left and boarded a Mass Transit Railway train. One of the men alighted at Tai Po Market station while the other dropped off at Hung Hom station.
The reporter trailed the second man as he headed to a Filipino restaurant at Yau Ma Tei in Kowloon. With the help of a restaurant staff member, they carried the fish into the kitchen. The man then collected HK$200 (S$32) from the staff member and left.
On Jan 13, the reporter went to the Filipino restaurant and asked about the fish dishes available there.
The staff member who attended to him, known only as Noel, suggested the tilapia and also pointed at a photo of crispy crucian carp outside the restaurant. He said that the dish cost HK$85.
Noel said that they were bought from wet markets. But after the reporter showed him the pictures of the men fishing at the drain, Noel started defending himself by saying that he was unaware of this.
The reporter then asked for permission to enter the kitchen, but Noel angrily said that they had been told by the men that the fish were caught in Thailand.
"My brother doesn't know where the fish are from. If it is indeed true that they were caught from the drain, we will call the police and no longer get our supplies from them," he said.
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