Construction of a 120 Billion KRW 'Seafood Food Export Complex' in Mokpo

14th People's Forum 'Jeonnam Leaping Forward with Future Industries and Culture'

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has decided to establish a seafood export complex worth 120 billion KRW in Mokpo, Jeollanam-do, and to expand the Gim Industry Promotion Zone to revitalize the gim (seaweed) industry.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 14th, the Ministry announced this at the "Public Livelihood Discussion: Jeonnam's Vigorous Leap with Future Industries and Culture" held at the Jeonnam Provincial Office. The ministry plans to complete the seafood export complex worth 120 billion KRW in Mokpo next year to produce high-quality gim and lead the global market. Along with this, it will also promote the operation of a gim exchange and the development and distribution of smart processing facilities.

The ministry, in cooperation with related local governments, aims to strengthen the production base of gim seeds by supporting the development of climate-resilient gim seeds and the transfer of private technology. It will also work to eradicate the illegal distribution of gim seeds. To create a stable production environment, last year the ministry designated three gim industry promotion zones in Sinan and Haenam in Jeonnam, and Seocheon in Chungnam.

In September last year, the ministry announced the first basic plan for gim industry promotion. The first basic plan aims to achieve $1 billion in gim export revenue by 2027, ensuring that high-quality Korean gim creates sustainable value. To this end, it has established 12 detailed tasks including high-quality raw material supply, creation of high added value, future sustainable growth industry, and international demand creation strategies, and is systematically implementing the plan with annual execution schedules.

Additionally, the ministry is preparing a permanent removal system using dedicated collection vessels centered on decommissioned fishing boats to assist Jeonnam fishermen who suffer damage from illegal fishing gear installed mainly by Chinese fishing vessels. Currently, private fishing boats are used to collect large illegal fishing gear from Chinese vessels, but it is difficult to lease vessels for gear collection during private fishing seasons. Therefore, the ministry plans to establish a permanent illegal gear collection system by leasing private collection vessels and considering the introduction of separate dedicated collection vessels.

The ministry is forcibly removing illegal fishing gear installed by Chinese fishing vessels in domestic waters using Korean anchovy net fishing vessels. However, due to various constraints, it is difficult to remove all illegal gear. Accordingly, the ministry plans to review the operation of dedicated collection vessels using decommissioned fishing boats to collect illegal gear from Chinese vessels.

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