Gyeongbuk Province Conducts Korea's First Test Release of Young Smelt Fish... Over 30,000 Released in Andongho

Successful Production of ‘Bingeo Eorin Gogi’ Juvenile Fish Seeds, Continued Development and Research of New Freshwater Varieties

The Gyeongbuk Province Native Fish Industrialization Center released juvenile icefish at Andong Dam on the 29th of last month.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Gwiyeol] The Gyeongbuk Province Indigenous Fish Industry Center successfully produced fry of smelt, a beloved freshwater fish resource used for sashimi, frying, and ice fishing, for the first time in Korea, and conducted a test release of about 30,000 young smelt at Andong Dam on the 29th of last month.

The young smelt released this time were fertilized and hatched through artificial spawning from wild broodstock secured in the brackish water area of Cheonsuman in the West Sea, where seawater and freshwater meet, in March.

This is the first time in Korea that healthy fry measuring 3 to 4 cm in length, raised for about five months, have been released.

Smelt.

The annual smelt catch in the province once reached 230 tons in 2006, but due to environmental changes in major dams and reservoirs, high water temperatures, and the degeneration of smelt genetic resources, the catch dropped to 6 tons last year.

Some metropolitan local governments are promoting resource creation projects to restore smelt fishery resources domestically, but until now, fry production technology has not been developed, so fertilized eggs or newly hatched larvae have been released.

The Indigenous Fish Industry Center has succeeded in producing fry measuring 3 to 4 cm in length, breaking away from the existing resource creation methods.

They plan to maximize the effect of resource creation through this test release.

The center produces and releases about 1.7 million young fish annually to preserve fishery resources in the Nakdong River basin within the province.

This year, they plan to mass-produce economically valuable fish species preferred by fishermen, such as Dongjagae and Mikkuri, along with smelt, and release them into major dams, lakes, and rivers in August and September.

Moon Seong-jun, director of the Gyeongbuk Fisheries Resources Research Institute, said, “We will continue to expand the fry production and release projects for high-value fish species preferred by fishermen, such as smelt. We plan to do our best to restore inland water fishery resources and increase fishermen’s income.”

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