"Please Stockpile Farmed Seafood Too"... Government Shows Reluctance

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[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] As the consumption of sashimi-grade seafood has significantly decreased due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), voices from the aquaculture industry are growing, requesting that farmed seafood be included in the government's seafood stockpiling targets. The government empathizes with the difficulties faced by the aquaculture industry but maintains that it is realistically difficult to stockpile farmed seafood.

On the 25th, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official said, "There have been continuous demands through various channels for the government to stockpile major farmed species such as flatfish and rockfish," adding, "However, stockpiling requires future sales, and since sashimi-grade seafood can only be sold frozen later, it is practically difficult to stockpile."

The reason the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries is reluctant to stockpile farmed species is primarily because it goes against the purpose of the seafood stockpiling system. Seafood stockpiling is a system where the government purchases and stores target species when production increases significantly and prices drop, then releases them when prices rise later. The main goal is price stabilization. However, unlike offshore and coastal fishing, aquaculture allows for planned production such as adjusting harvest timing.

Accordingly, the current seafood stockpiling targets are limited to six species: mackerel, cutlassfish, croaker, squid, pollock, and dried anchovies. This year’s seafood stockpiling budget is approximately 73.9 billion won, which includes packaging, storage, and transportation costs.

According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the loss rate for stockpiled seafood is about 10%. This means the government buys at 1,000 won and sells in the market at about 900 won. However, for farmed sashimi-grade seafood, the loss rate inevitably becomes higher. The government buys at sashimi prices, stores it frozen, and can only sell it for about 200 won later.

A Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official explained, "Stockpiling farmed sashimi-grade seafood results in barely recovering the investment costs," adding, "This ultimately becomes another form of subsidy, which contradicts the purpose of the stockpiling system."

Instead, the Ministry plans to support seafood consumption promotion events and non-face-to-face sales such as online or drive-thru (car delivery) methods. In fact, Yeosu City in Jeollanam-do gained popularity by selling assorted live fish sashimi via drive-thru to support aquaculture households struggling due to COVID-19.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries views that holding large-scale tasting events for consumption promotion is difficult at the moment, so it will first invest its own budget to support such drive-thru sales events and plans to expand non-face-to-face sales channels by securing additional budgets in the future.

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