'Gold-priced' Gwamegi and Saury Flood Market, Prices Stabilize... Pohang City Normalizes Supply of Guryongpo Saury

Deep-sea fishing vessel mackerel pike unloading started from the 24th

A scene of Gwamegi made from saury drying on the coast of Guryongpo-eup, Nam-gu, Pohang-si, Gyeongbuk. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Dong-wook] Pohang Guryongpo 'Gwamegi,' which had been facing production disruptions due to a shortage of ingredients even during the peak shipping season, is expected to return to normal as the supply of mackerel pike has recently improved.

According to Pohang City on the 29th, the unloading of mackerel pike from distant-water fishing vessels began on the 24th. By December 4th, 1,300 tons are expected to be delivered, followed by 1,200 tons from Taiwan and 800 tons from distant waters in mid-December.

As a result, the drying yards (Deokjang) for Guryongpo Gwamegi, which had been empty due to insufficient mackerel pike supply, are expected to see the usual bustling scenes. With the stabilization of mackerel pike supply, the market price of Gwamegi is also expected to gradually stabilize.

Until now, in Guryongpo, Pohang, the sea temperature in the North Pacific rose, significantly reducing krill shrimp, the mackerel pike’s food source, and reckless overfishing by Taiwanese, Chinese, and Japanese fishing vessels caused a sharp decline in mackerel pike catches.

Due to the lack of mackerel pike, the number of herring Gwamegi producers in Pohang increased by 30% compared to the previous year, but herring catches also decreased by 35.5% compared to previous years, leading to emergency imports of Russian herring and causing major disruptions in Gwamegi production. Meanwhile, the market price of Gwamegi rose by 30%.

Jung Jong-young, head of the Fisheries Promotion Division of Pohang City, stated, "Due to COVID-19, Gwamegi sales have also decreased, causing triple hardships for local Gwamegi producers," and emphasized, "We will greatly strengthen administrative support through December’s non-face-to-face Gwamegi promotional events and social distancing sales events, doing our best to revitalize sales of the local specialty Gwamegi."