NEW METHOD OF FISH FARMING

[Anchor Lead]

A new method of fish farming has been successful in both the east and west seas as a way to prevent damage from abnormal water temperatures. Unlike the conventional cultivation of fish, the new method installs net cages farther away from the land in deeper waters, creating an environment most similar to the natural state that enables fish farming with no antibiotics.

[Pkg]

Here in waters near Naepasudo Island, some 9 kilometers from Anmyeondo Island in Taean, Chungcheongnamdo Province. Some 480-thousand rockfish are grown in a net cage fish farm measuring 80-thousand square meters. Unlike conventional farms typically at a water depth of within seven meters along coast lines, here the nets are placed further away from land and far deeper from the surface at 20 meters or lower. In the past decade, net cage fishing has incurred damages of 40 billion won due to high or low water temperatures. However nets installed deeper into the ocean can maintain temperatures of 5 to 25 degrees Celsius.

[Soundbite] Na Woo-shik(Fisherman) : "Water temperatures are 3-4 degrees lower in summer and 3-4 degrees higher in winter compared to the Cheonsuman Bay area where fish farms are concentrated."

This costs a quarter of the previous methods used, as all you need are nets and fixture equipment. There is no need for floating structures. The surrounding environment is also more eco-friendly. Sea currents move faster and the density of raised fish is halved. There’s little concern of pollution or disease. Fish grow more than 30% faster. In some cases, they can go without antibiotics.

[Soundbite] Gang Jong-sun(Chungcheongnam-do Prov. gov’t) : "Antibiotics are not used at all because the fish grow in a natural state amid fast sea currents while feeding on raw fodder."

Following the successful cases in the East Sea, this type of fish farms are proven to be effective for the first time in the West Sea. The Fisheries Ministry and Chungcheongnamdo Province plan to expand the cultivation.