Jeonnam Provincial Marine Fisheries Science Institute Strengthens Seafood Safety Management

Expansion of Target Items and Inspection Categories... Focus on Vulnerable Areas

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Jeonnam Provincial Marine Fisheries Science Institute announced on the 9th that it plans to further strengthen safety management at the production stage of seafood by expanding the target species and inspection items for safety investigations to ensure the supply of safe seafood.

Seafood safety investigations are conducted by randomly collecting samples from major production fishing grounds and large-scale shipment sites such as auction markets, and testing for residual amounts of radiation, heavy metals, prohibited drugs, microorganisms, and more.

This year, the number of species under investigation was expanded from the original 51 to 54 by adding scallops, soft-shelled turtles, and yellowtail.

Additionally, the number of inspection items increased from 73 to 87 by adding 14 items related to veterinary drugs and prohibited substances.

The plan is to move away from investigations focused mainly on high-consumption seafood and strengthen the scope of investigations to include coastal areas, rivers, and lakes where terrestrial pollutants may enter, and to operate a continuous inspection system for pollution-prone marine areas.

From 2011 to 2019, 9,254 seafood samples were investigated, processing about 1,000 cases annually on average.

Last year, 1,292 cases were investigated, and shipment suspension measures and recurrence prevention education were conducted for 7 cases of non-compliant seafood. For species repeatedly found non-compliant and aquaculture farms where prohibited drugs were detected over the past five years, special management will be conducted every two months for one year.

Park Juntak, Director of the Jeonnam Provincial Marine Fisheries Science Institute, said, “We will thoroughly block the distribution of non-compliant seafood from the production stage so that the public can consume clean seafood produced in the Jeonnam region with confidence.”

Meanwhile, the Jeonnam Provincial Marine Fisheries Science Institute discloses investigation results on its website to prove the safety of seafood from the Jeonnam region and to guarantee consumers' right to know. It is also continuing radiation inspections on seafood related to the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.

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