Muan-gun Releases 28,800 Brood Octopuses During 'Octopus Closed Season'

Compliance with Nakji Fishing Ban, Request to Release Young Nakji

Jeonnam Muan-gun (Governor Kim San) released approximately 28,800 parent octopuses into the coastal waters of Muan-gun from the 21st of this month to the 20th of next month to conserve the pearl octopus resources during the octopus closed season.

According to the county on the 20th, the released octopuses, which spawn from June to August, are expected to contribute to increasing fishermen's income in the autumn fishing season.

The octopus production in Muan-gun has been decreasing every year due to overfishing and climate change. According to internal surveys, it dropped from 2.9 million jeop (1 jeop = 20 octopuses) in 2007 to about 1 million jeop in 2017, and fishing income has also decreased by more than 50%.

Officials from Songhyeon Fishing Village Cooperative are releasing mother octopuses.
[Photo by Muan-gun]

The county is implementing various policies to restore the declining octopus resources and increase fishermen's income.

Since 2007, a 200-hectare octopus protection area has been designated in Tando Bay and operated for three months from May 1 to July 30 each year. Since 2017, 3 to 4 octopus farms have been operated annually, releasing 28,000 octopuses. This year, 8,100 mating octopuses were released in four locations, including the Guro Fishing Village Cooperative, where the cooperatives directly protect and manage them to ensure juvenile octopuses can thrive.

Additionally, Muan-gun has been operating an octopus spawning and habitat site in Tando Bay from 2021 to 2025, releasing about 56,000 octopuses up to last year.

In the first half of this year, about 20,000 parent octopuses were released, and changes in resource quantities will be monitored and observed after release to analyze the project’s effectiveness and secure data necessary for resource development.

In line with these county policies, fishermen are also voluntarily striving to conserve octopus resources.

In particular, the Songhyeon Fishing Village Cooperative in Mangun-myeon (Cooperative Chief Kim Jongsang) released about 300 parent octopuses on the 16th into the village fishing grounds near Jogeumnaru, supporting Muan-gun’s resource development efforts.

A county official stated, “Octopuses cannot be farmed, and environmental factors such as temperature and water pollution greatly affect them. Due to low spawning and hatching rates, artificial resource development has its limits. Therefore, it is crucial for fishermen themselves to prohibit overfishing, comply with the closed season, release juvenile octopuses, and make voluntary efforts for resource conservation.”

Muan = Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Oh Hwanju just8440@asiae.co.kr

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