Precious Shellfish 'Saejogae', Large-Scale Land-Based Farming Initiated in Chungnam

Baby pen shells are contained in a fishing net. Provided by Chungnam Province

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province is promoting the large-scale complete land-based aquaculture of Saejojae (razor clam).

The Chungnam Fisheries Resources Research Institute announced on the 6th that it is establishing a test farm in Daesan, Seosan, to promote the "Development of Festival-style Aquaculture Technology for Mass Production of Saejojae."

Saejojae is named for its resemblance to a bird's beak. It is also gaining attention as a representative delicacy of the West Coast due to its chewy texture and rarity.

However, Saejojae has seen a sharp decline in production, causing prices to soar every year, making it difficult to obtain even when paying.

According to Statistics Korea, the production volume of Saejojae in Chungnam peaked at 1,156 tons in 2003 but plummeted to 7 tons in 2010 and 1 ton in 2011, with almost no production for eight years from 2012.

Last year, however, 25 tons of Saejojae were produced, breaking the nine-year zero production streak.

The low production of Saejojae is a nationwide phenomenon. National production volumes fluctuated with 949 tons in 2010, 426 tons in 2012, 1,910 tons in 2014, 293 tons in 2016, 194 tons in 2018, and 439 tons in 2020, maintaining an overall downward trend.

As a result, the consumer price per kilogram of Saejojae rose from around 50,000 KRW in 2017 to about 75,000 KRW last year, and 60,000 to 70,000 KRW this year.

Considering this situation, the Fisheries Resources Research Institute began developing artificial hatching technology using Saejojae seed in 2016 and secured artificial spawning technology for Saejojae that year.

The following year, they developed artificial maturation induction technology, and in 2019, succeeded in producing juvenile Saejojae through mass artificial spawning induction.

The festival-style aquaculture technology development being promoted this year is the final stage to complete Saejojae aquaculture. To this end, the Fisheries Resources Research Institute secured a 2-hectare festival-style aquaculture farm in Daesan, Seosan, and purchased and stocked 800,000 1mm-sized juvenile clams on the 17th of last month.

The stocked juvenile Saejojae grow by feeding on phytoplankton artificially introduced into the seawater, and the Fisheries Resources Research Institute plans to observe the environment, water temperature changes, and growth changes of Saejojae in this aquaculture farm until next year to find the optimal aquaculture technology.

A representative of the Fisheries Resources Research Institute said, "Since we have already secured the mass artificial seed production technology, which is the biggest difficulty in Saejojae aquaculture, we will succeed in this test aquaculture so that fishermen can produce Saejojae easily and at low cost, and consumers can purchase Saejojae at relatively affordable prices."

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