Comprehensive Support for Disease Control Equipment, Supplies, and Insurance Premiums for 109 Aquaculture Facilities
Vice Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Visits Heunghaee Aquaculture Farm to Hear Difficulties and Gather Opinions
Pohang City has initiated a rapid response system to minimize high-temperature damage as water temperatures rise due to the onset of a full-scale heat wave.
According to the National Institute of Fisheries Science, on August 1, a high-temperature advisory was expanded and issued along the coast of North Gyeongsang Province (from the northern end of Nakok-ri, Buk-myeon, Uljin County to the southern end of the breakwater at Jigyung, Nam-myeon, Gyeongju City).
In response to the earlier-than-usual high-temperature advisory, the city has allocated a budget of approximately 3 billion KRW to swiftly provide disease control equipment and supplies to aquaculture farms, and is pursuing a variety of measures such as facility modernization and insurance premium support.
Currently, there are a total of 109 aquaculture facilities in Pohang, including 39 land-based farms, 17 offshore cage farms, 6 festival-type farms, and 47 longline-type farms, where approximately 13.69 million aquatic animals such as olive flounder, rockfish, and halibut are being cultivated.
Local aquaculture farms possess a total of 1,970 pieces of disease control equipment, including liquid oxygen suppliers, bottom water supply devices, heat pumps, and coolers. The city is strengthening on-site technical guidance and inspections to ensure these devices operate effectively during high-temperature periods.
Additionally, the city has allocated 40 million KRW for disease control to provide supplies such as ice and immune boosters to prevent high-temperature damage. Through the Abnormal Water Temperature Response Support Project (322 million KRW), 682 circulation pumps, 670 tons of liquid oxygen, 6 oxygen dissolvers, and 4 underwater agitators are being supplied to the sites.
On August 5, Kim Sungbeom, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, visited an aquaculture farm in the Heunghaee area of Pohang to listen to on-site difficulties and overall fisheries policy opinions, and urged efforts to prevent damage.
On the 5th, Kim Sungbeom, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, visited aquaculture farms in the Pohang area, where Jung Chulyoung, Director of Fisheries Policy Division, briefed him on the difficulties faced at the site of the high-temperature damage and overall policies for the fisheries industry in Pohang. Photo by Pohang City
On this day, the city and fishermen proposed that the current standard for juvenile fish in the aquaculture disaster insurance be relaxed from the existing 50g to 20g to better reflect reality. Under the current standard, juvenile fish weighing less than 50g cannot be insured, so if they die due to natural disasters, fishermen must bear the losses themselves.
Jung Chulyoung, Director of the Fisheries Policy Division, said, "As abnormal climate events repeat and the difficulties faced by aquaculture farmers intensify, we will spare no available resources and financial support to minimize high-temperature damage."
The city is also providing support for aquaculture disaster insurance premiums to reduce the disaster burden on aquaculture farms. Through this support project (161 million KRW), 70% of the insurance co-payment is subsidized, enabling preparation against damage to aquaculture animals and facilities caused by fishery disasters.
Various projects are also being supported, including the Eco-Friendly Energy Supply Project for Aquaculture Farms (450 million KRW) to distribute heat pumps, the Facility Modernization Project for Aquaculture Farms (1.22 billion KRW) for the construction and maintenance of bottom water intake lines, and the Aquatic Animal Preventive Vaccine Supply Project (829 million KRW) to strengthen fish immunity.
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