[2020 National Audit] The National Science Museum is a 'Freshwater Fish Taxidermy Hall'

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] It has been revealed that more than half of the natural history specimens preserved as scientific and technological materials under the National Science Museum, affiliated with the Ministry of Science and ICT, are taxidermied freshwater fish such as Piraemi. Concerns have been raised about the weak management system and regulations regarding the collection and preservation of scientific and technological materials, including collection criteria.

On the 7th, Woo Sang-ho, a member of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee (Seodaemun Gap, Seoul), announced that an analysis of the "Scientific and Technological Materials Management Ledger" submitted by the National Science Museum revealed that out of a total of 808,534 specimens, 432,761 (53.5%) were taxidermied freshwater fish such as Piraemi and Crucian carp.

Considering that this figure only includes freshwater fish specimens with more than 1,000 items in possession, it is estimated that about 60% of the scientific and technological materials held are fish.

The top five species among the scientific and technological specimens at the National Science Museum are Piraemi with 100,111 specimens (12.4%), Crucian carp with 46,397 specimens (5.7%), Korean chub (Galgyoni) with 37,108 specimens (4.6%), Korean bullhead (Beodeulchi) with 21,259 specimens (2.6%), and True crucian carp (Chambung-eo) with 19,121 specimens (2.4%).

The lawmaker's office stated that storing a large number of specimens of a single species such as Piraemi is an unusual case from the perspective of specimen collection. After consulting with the Smithsonian Museum in the United States, the world's largest natural history museum holding specimens of 76% of the world's fish species, they received the response that "due to storage space issues, they do not secure a large number of specimens per species."

In particular, the National Science Museum does not have separate regulations regarding the disposal of existing specimens. Furthermore, the comprehensive survey of specimens, which began in 2017, is still ongoing. They have not even prepared basic data for specimen management. This lack of a management system appears to have caused an overcapacity situation in the storage facilities. However, the National Science Museum has reportedly requested the government to establish a National Important Science and Technology Materials Center, according to Representative Woo's criticism.

Representative Woo Sang-ho said, "Before securing new space, verification and judgment of the importance and value of existing scientific and technological materials should come first," adding, "It is necessary to promptly complete the ongoing comprehensive survey of specimens and, based on this, establish a clear management system for the acquisition and preservation of scientific and technological materials."

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