Sinan-gun Supports Master Craftsmen of Barehanded Octopus Catching with Skill Incentives

Mudflat Octopus Designated as National Important Fishery Heritage

Scenic View of Sinan County Office Building (Photo by Sinan County)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seo Young-seo] Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Park Woo-ryang) announced on the 19th that it will provide a technology incentive of 2 million won per year for two years starting this year to those selected as masters of the fishing industry (barehanded octopus catching).

Barehanded octopus fishing in tidal flats was designated as National Important Fishery Heritage No. 6 in November 2018.

In September last year, the county held an octopus catching competition for fishermen to preserve the technique and traditional fishing methods of catching octopus barehanded in tidal flats, selecting a total of seven masters.

Also, based on the ordinance, they were designated as ‘Sinan-gun Fishing Industry Masters’ and starting this year, they will receive a technology incentive of 2 million won per year for two years, supported quarterly with 500,000 won each.

Park Woo-ryang, Governor of Sinan-gun, said, “The octopus living in the clean tidal flats of Sinan is called 'beolnakji' locally and is famous for being soft, savory, and chewy,” adding, “It is a representative seafood that can be enjoyed by people of all ages by making various and distinctive dishes such as tangtangi, choumuchim, stir-fry, and horong.”

He continued, “In Sinan, designated as a 162㎢ wide tidal flat provincial park and biosphere reserve, we plan to inherit the traditional techniques and culture of barehanded octopus fishing that have been passed down for many years and preserve the tangible and intangible fishery resources of the fishing village.”

Meanwhile, Sinan-gun’s barehanded octopus catching involves about 1,000 fishing households producing about 200,000 jeops annually, making it the top production area nationwide with a catch amount of 36 billion won.

Currently, during the octopus catching season, the price is around 200,000 won per jeop, and an Island Octopus Festival will be held in Aphae-eup in June.

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