Smart Fish Farms to be Built in Uljin, Gyeongbuk

Expected to increase yellowtail production and create a new source of income on the East Coast by building yellowtail smart aquaculture facilities in response to climate change

 The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF; Minister Kang Do-hyung) announced on Thursday, April 3 that it had selected Uljin-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do as operator of the "Support for New Aquaculture Species in Response to Climate Change" program.

 The program was launched this year to foster next-generation strategic items and create new sources of income for fishermen in response to changes in fishing grounds due to climate change.

 As the selected operator for this program, Uljin-gun plans to invest KRW 30 billion (KRW 9 billion from the national budget) with Uljin-gun Stationary Net Fishery Corporation to foster the next-generation aquaculture product, as the catch of yellowtail has been increasing recently due to rising water temperature.

 Although the yellowtail—a warm-current fish—is mainly produced in Japan, its habitat is moving to Korean waters due to climate change, enabling farming it mainly along the East Coast. In particular, since yellowtail is rich in fat and it has emerged as a nationally popular sashimi dish that appeals to the younger generation, this program will ease the dependence on yellowtail imports from Japan and increase the income of local fishermen.

 This program will build floating and submerged fish farms that can withstand natural disasters such as typhoons at sea, smart fish farms, one-stop processing facilities on land, and research facilities for the mass production of breeds and intermediate breeding fish.

 "We expect the building of a smart aquaculture and processing system for yellowtail to increase domestic defense production, revitalize the local economy, and create jobs. We will continue to identify and support new aquaculture items in response to climate change," Minister Kang Do-hyung said.