Gijang-gun Promotes Coastal Ecosystem Restoration and Effective Maintenance Project

Busan Gijang-gun is actively promoting various coastal ecosystem restoration and effective maintenance projects to prevent the spread of desertification (seaweed loss) in the coastal waters of Gijang and to create a sustainable and abundant sea.

In January, Dongbaek-ri waters in Ilgwang-eup were selected as a new site for the 2023 Sea Forest Creation Project by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. The sea forest creation project is a four-year plan with approximately 1.1 billion KRW to be invested by 2026, and currently, a low-cost sea forest creation project using natural rock formations is underway.

Additionally, the county is investing 80 million KRW to establish a basic plan for the creation of additional spawning habitats and is preparing to be selected as a new project by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries in 2024 in the second half of this year.

Not only new projects but also systematic and effective maintenance plans are being developed for existing fishery resource enhancement facilities such as coastal fish farms and spawning habitats along the Gijang coast.

Gijang County Office.

Areas that fail to comply with post-management will be excluded from evaluation when selecting new nationally funded projects such as sea forests and spawning habitats in the future, requiring active management by local governments. Accordingly, the county plans to complete the post-management plan by the end of the year and will begin full-scale post-management and effectiveness surveys from 2024.

Through these diverse coastal ecosystem management projects, Gijang-gun is establishing a supply base for fishery resources along the coast, actively contributing to the recovery of the coastal ecosystem and the increase of valuable fishery resources.

In particular, after the creation of the rockfish spawning habitat at the end of last year, the catch per unit effort (CPUE, kg/boat) increased to 4.73, more than three times the 1.23 recorded in 2018, confirming its contribution to the long-term income increase of Gijang-gun fishermen.

A Gijang-gun official stated, “We will continue our efforts to restore our Gijang sea, which has been devastated by climate change such as rising water temperatures, into a rich supply base of fishery resources so that our fishermen can continue sustainable fishing activities.”

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