Minister Moon Sung-hyuk: "Rapid Support for COVID-19 Damage in Marine and Fisheries Sector"

Munsung Hyuk, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Moon Seong-hyeok, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, stated on the 28th, "We will promptly support the marine and fisheries sector affected by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19)."

At the Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, and Oceans and Fisheries Committee briefing held at the National Assembly that day, Minister Moon said, "We will provide emergency management funds and ship financing to shipping and port companies, and continuously promote management support for fishing households and fisheries companies as well as the consumption of seafood products."

Minister Moon emphasized, "We will sequentially deploy 12 ultra-large container ships on European routes and support shipping companies to secure cargo stably. We will also expand port infrastructure such as Busan Port's 2nd New Port, Gwangyang Port, and Incheon Port, and strive to create logistics hubs through the development of port hinterlands and attraction of companies."

He continued, "To innovate the entire process from production to processing and distribution in the traditional fisheries industry, we will reform the coastal fisheries management system to be resource management-centered by expanding the total allowable catch (TAC) targets and strengthening penalties for illegal fishing. For aquaculture, we will expand next-generation growth foundations such as industrialization of high value-added species and advance the distribution process by introducing auction market cams."

Regarding fostering new industries, Minister Moon mentioned, "We will nurture five strategic new industries including marine bio, marine robots, marine energy, and marine healing industries. Along with the digital transformation of shipping and port infrastructure such as autonomous ships and smart ports, we will also promote the commercialization of smart eco-friendly aquaculture."

Additionally, he said, "We will expand tourism infrastructure by establishing regional marine leisure tourism hubs and develop marine ecological tourism utilizing ecological resources such as tidal flats."

Minister Moon also promised to strengthen accident prevention and response systems related to marine safety. He stated, "To prevent ship accidents, we will reinforce safety equipment and expand the replacement of old ships with new ones. Through maintenance of aging ports and systematic coastal maintenance, we will prevent disasters in ports and coastal areas, and also focus on environmental regeneration of overcrowded and aging aquaculture farms and the hygiene and safety of seafood products."

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