Jeonbuk Province Selected for "Fisheries Resource Spawning Grounds Creation Project"

Hosted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries
Securing a Project Budget of 3 Billion Won

On November 28, Jeonbuk Province announced that it had been finally selected in the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries' public contest for new sites for the "2026 Fisheries Resource Spawning Grounds Creation Project."

Location map of webfoot octopus spawning grounds (Gochang County waters). Provided by Jeonbuk Province

With this selection, the province has secured a total project budget of 3 billion won, including 1.5 billion won in national funding.

The Fisheries Resource Spawning Grounds Creation Project is a core initiative led by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries since 2015, aimed at establishing a sustainable supply base for fisheries resources. The goal is to create and systematically manage ecological environments tailored to the life cycle characteristics of fish species in urgent need of resource recovery and management.

Through this project, the province plans to invest 3 billion won over five years, from next year until 2030, to establish webfoot octopus spawning grounds in the waters of Gochang County. The key objective is to restore webfoot octopus populations, which have sharply declined due to climate change and overfishing.

Jeonbuk Province previously established a sea cucumber habitat in Gunsan City, investing 5 billion won between 2018 and 2020 after the city was designated as a Special Industrial Employment Crisis Area in 2018. In addition, a public project worth a total of 8 billion won is currently underway from 2024 to 2028 over five years.

By species, 4 billion won (800 million won annually) is being invested in the Gunsan cuttlefish habitat, and another 4 billion won (800 million won annually) in the Buan blue crab habitat.

This webfoot octopus spawning grounds project goes beyond simply creating a habitat. The plan is to establish spawning and habitation bases, release juvenile fish, and carry out systematic post-management to achieve tangible recovery of fisheries resources and improve productivity.

Kim Mijeong, Director of the Saemangeum Oceans and Fisheries Bureau of Jeonbuk Province, stated, "Thanks to close cooperation with local political circles and Gochang County, we were selected for the spawning grounds creation project again next year, following last year." She added, "We will continue to identify fish species in need of resource recovery and do our utmost to create a sustainable fishing environment and improve fishers' incomes."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries selected 10 sites out of 12 local governments that applied for this contest. The total project scale is 39 billion won (19.5 billion won in national funding and 19.5 billion won in local funding) to be invested over five years from 2026 to 2030.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.