Haenam-gun to Achieve 100% Eco-Friendly Buoy Distribution for Seaweed Farming by 2025

Secured 3.2 Billion Won for Eco-Friendly Buoy Project, Leading Eco-Friendly Aquaculture Pioneer

Haenam County will convert all aquaculture farms to eco-friendly buoys by 2025. (Photo by Haenam County)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun] Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Myeong Hyeon-gwan) announced on the 16th that it has secured a budget of 3.2 billion KRW for the distribution of eco-friendly buoys in 2021 and plans to distribute approximately 320,000 eco-friendly buoys, aiming to achieve a full transition to eco-friendly buoys in all aquaculture industries by 2025.

In this regard, Governor Myeong Hyeon-gwan instructed on the 14th, "To expand eco-friendly buoys essential for eco-friendly Gim (seaweed) farming, we will greatly increase support for fishermen and consider measures such as investing county funds."

The styrofoam buoys used in Gim farms and other aquaculture sites easily crumble and generate microplastic particles, which have been identified as a major cause of marine litter.

Accordingly, the county plans to significantly expand the budget for high-density eco-friendly buoys to lead eco-friendly fisheries aquaculture in Jeollanam-do and actively promote sustainable fishery development through marine environment conservation.

This year's distribution of eco-friendly buoys has increased dramatically by 438% compared to last year, and by investing county funds to reduce the current 30% self-payment rate to 20%, the burden on fishermen will also be reduced.

The scale of Gim farms, the representative marine aquaculture of Haenam-gun, is 9,607 hectares and about 192,140 rafts this year. The county is investing a budget of 4 billion KRW in about 10 projects, including support for eco-friendly Gim nets and supply of aquaculture equipment, to achieve an income of 100 billion KRW through high-quality seaweed production.

In particular, the nationally first certified organic marine product, ‘Hwangsan Jiju-style Gim,’ produces eco-friendly seaweed without using styrofoam buoys or activators in Gim farms covering 943 hectares (13,136 rafts).

Along with this, since 2015, the county has been leading the collection and disposal of abandoned styrofoam on the coast by operating a waste styrofoam melting machine, processing and recycling 128 tons, about 500,000 pieces of waste styrofoam.

Governor Myeong Hyeon-gwan stated, "Haenam, which has the clean sea at the land’s end, must make every effort to secure proactive budgets to be the first to achieve 100% distribution of eco-friendly aquaculture buoys."

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