Seoul searching for salmon sustainability
Research team raises steelhead in South Korean waters
as nation’s appetite for sustainably farmed fish grows
By SeaWestNews
The rising demand for sustainably raised salmon in South Korea has led to a university team successfully farming American steelhead in the East Asian nation’s waters.
Led by professors Kim Min-sun and Lee Jang-won of Integrative Bio-industrial Engineering at Sejong University, a research team imported steelhead eggs from the US, raising juvenile steelhead in river waters and transferring them to sea water, the university said, according to local media reports.
In 13 months, the team succeeded in
producing 1.3 kilograms of steelhead on Feb. 4.
South Korea has seen an increase in salmon
consumption, with more than 40,000 tons of salmon — with a retail value of
about 400 billion WON — imported from other countries as of 2019.
The Pacific Salmon Foundation states steelhead
are similar to other Pacific salmon in many ways but for one main exception:
they can be repeat spawners. Their classification as a salmon is debated by
some scientists because of their repeat spawning.
The Sejong Institute of Salmonid Research
also made progress in developing a vaccine to protect salmonid from illnesses,
helping them better adapt to sea water and producing food for salmonid using
insects.
The research centre, the country’s only
institute dedicated to developing technologies to mass-producing salmon, aims
to continue research and cooperation with industry to develop salmon-producing
technologies, food for salmonid and vaccines to find new growth models for the
country’s economy and food security.
In 2014, South Korean-based Donghae STF, a
fisheries company, hatched salmon eggs imported from Canada, and raised them
for 10 months at its aquafarm located in inland waters. After growing to 200 –
400 grams in size, the fish were moved to a sea farm in March 2015.
In order to maintain the surrounding water
temperature at 15 – 18 degrees Celsius, the salmon were raised in a submersible
fish cage that can be placed in waters up to 25 meters deep.
Following this venture, the South Korean
government had announced that it will selectively open the fish farming
business to conglomerates and set up a third management agency to guard the
country’s southern waters from illegal Chinese fishing.
In a policy goal report for 2017, the
Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said it will allow large conglomerates to
operate fish farms for salmon, bluefin tuna and other kinds that require high-cost
facility investments. Companies with total assets of more than 500 billion WON
(US$419.6 million) or annual sales of over 100 billion WON are eligible.
The size of allowed offshore farms will be
enlarged to 60 hectares from the current 20 hectares, the ministry reported.
Ministry officials said the decision is based on the outlook that fish farming can become a lucrative industry when supported by the right technology and facilities. South Korea can have its own version of Norway’s giant seafood Marine Harvest (MOWI), they said.
Ministry officials played down worries that
conglomerates’ entry into the business will hurt small-time fishermen, saying
their areas of business do not overlap.
“Bluefin tuna and salmon both require
large-scale facility investment,” Kim Jae-chul, who oversees fishing industry
policy, said. “They do not fall into conflicting interests with ordinary
fishermen. The fishermen understand that such fish farms need independent
facilities and advanced technology.”
The policy goal also included establishing
10 high-brand fishing-themed villages as tourist attractions.
(Image courtesy of S.Korea Ministry of
Oceans)