South Chungcheong Province Conducts First Emergency Release of 830,000 Farmed Fish Due to Heat Wave

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As the ongoing heat wave has caused a sharp rise in sea water temperatures, South Chungcheong Province has, for the first time ever, carried out an emergency release of caged farmed fish.

On August 8, the province announced that it had released a first batch of 839,500 rockfish in Sodo, Boryeong and Gonam waters, Taean.

This is a preemptive measure in response to concerns about mass deaths of farmed fish due to prolonged high water temperatures. The province expects this to reduce the cost of disposing of dead fish and to help replenish marine resources.

All released fish were rockfish measuring 5 to 10 centimeters in length. Only healthy individuals, selected after disease screening at the Provincial Seafood Safety Center, were released.

The province will provide participating fish farms with disaster relief funds of 700 won per fish, and is preparing both to protect the release areas and to carry out a second release.

A provincial official stated, "As high water temperatures caused by climate change are occurring every year, we decided on emergency release in addition to countermeasures such as installing shade screens and injecting oxygen."

Meanwhile, last year, high water temperature damage in the province resulted in 8.24 million fish deaths across 93 fish farms, with damages totaling 9.7 billion won.

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