Damages to seaweed farming worsened by strong winds following heavy snowfall

[Anchor]

The aftermath of the recent strong winds is still being felt.

In particular, the damage to seaweed farms along the Chungnam west coast is significant.

There are concerns that the production of seaweed, which has already been disrupted by the prolonged high water temperatures throughout the summer, has become even more difficult.

Reporter Seong Yong-hee has the details.

[Report]

The nets where seaweed grows underwater are missing in several places, as if they have lost their teeth.

The edges are tangled together, making them unusable.

There are so many torn or broken nets that recovery seems impossible.

This situation is due to the strong winds that hit the seaweed farms during the harvest season, along with recent heavy snowfall.

[Lee Sang-ik/Seaweed farmer: "I can't even describe it. The damage here is no joke. About one-tenth has been destroyed. It's hard to dismantle and repair while the wind is blowing."]

A strong wind advisory was in effect for five days starting from the 25th of last month around the Marangjin Port area in Chungnam Seocheon.

Of the 2.3 million square meters of surrounding seaweed farms, 15%, or 350,000 square meters, have been devastated by the strong winds.

The nets that farmers have dismantled weigh several tons.

They are unable to even identify the nets that need repairs.

Even the areas where the nets are intact are suffering serious damage.

The seaweed that was growing has all been washed away by the strong winds and waves, and harvesting has been completely halted since the 26th of last month.

It takes about two weeks to grow new seaweed, but the damaged farms need to be dismantled and repaired, leaving farmers uncertain about when they will be able to harvest again.

[Moon Gil-byeong/Chairman of Seocheon Seaweed Producers Association: "We used to sell 500 to 600 million won worth of seaweed daily, but now we haven't been able to harvest a single piece for a week, and if we combine the damage to the facilities, the total damage is probably around 15 billion won..."]

The high water temperatures from the heatwave that lasted until early autumn had already delayed the harvest by more than two weeks.

With the additional damage from the strong winds, the worries of the fishermen are deepening.

This is KBS News, Seong Yong-hee reporting.