Completion Ceremony of Busan Smart Aquaculture Cluster on the 20th, Annual Farming of 500 Tons of Atlantic Salmon
The country's first smart salmon farm has been established on the site of the National Pukyong National University Fisheries Science Research Institute.
On December 20th in the afternoon, Pukyong National University, Busan City, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and GS Engineering & Construction held the 'Busan Smart Aquaculture Cluster Completion Ceremony' at the site within the Fisheries Science Research Institute of Pukyong National University (Dongbaek-ri, Busan).
The ceremony was attended by Bae Sang-hoon, President of Pukyong National University, Kim Kwang-hoe, Deputy Mayor for Future Innovation, Kang Do-hyung, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, and Heo Yoon-hong, CEO of GS Engineering & Construction, among others.
Constructed starting in 2022 and completed as a two-story above ground and one-story underground facility, the Busan Smart Aquaculture Cluster is an eco-friendly farm applying smart technology capable of producing 500 tons of Atlantic salmon annually. The operation is managed by 'Eco Aqua Farm,' a subsidiary of GS Engineering & Construction.
This farm, which cultivates Atlantic salmon on land rather than at sea, uses a recirculating filtration system that reuses over 99% of the breeding water, incorporating advanced technologies such as sensors, communication and data storage devices, and a smart aquaculture platform. After a cultivation period of about two years, the first Atlantic salmon is expected to be shipped in 2026.
Since Busan City was selected in 2019 for the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries' smart aquaculture cluster project, followed by a business agreement between Busan City and GS Engineering & Construction in 2020, and an agreement between Pukyong National University and GS Engineering & Construction in 2021, the completion ceremony marks the official start of operations, drawing attention as a representative successful case of cooperation among government, industry, and academia.
Bae Sang-hoon, President of Pukyong National University, said, "With the completion of the Busan Smart Aquaculture Cluster, we now have a forward base for technological independence and the development of advanced eco-friendly aquaculture technologies. We expect this place to innovatively elevate the level of advanced fisheries technology in Busan."
The 'Smart Aquaculture Cluster Project' is a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries initiative aimed at transforming the labor-intensive domestic aquaculture industry into a digital industry by integrating advanced technologies such as information and communication technology (ICT). The clusters are being established in five regions: Busan, Jeollanam-do, Gangwon-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Jeju, with Busan being the first to complete and begin full-scale smart aquaculture operations.
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