High sea temperatures affect fishing agriculture

[Anchor]

It is indeed the impact of the climate crisis.

The sea, which heated up intensely last summer, is not cooling down easily.

The winter fish, cod, which prefers cold water, has seen a significant drop in catch volume.

Reporter Yoon Kyung-jae has the story.

[Report]

At a port in Geoje, Gyeongnam, an auction is in full swing.

Most of the boxes contain bullhead or flatfish.

In fact, it is hard to find cod, which is in season.

When it does appear, the competition to buy it becomes fierce.

[Auctioneer: "Looking for cod. Let's see a cod. Let's see a cod."]

This is a stark contrast to previous years when cod filled the auction hall, as the catch volume has decreased to a quarter.

The sea temperature along the southern coast, which heated up last summer, has not dropped, causing the cold-water-loving cod to not return.

[Kim Tae-hoon/Cod Fisherman: "(The water temperature) is gradually dropping later, so the time we can catch them is not long. (In one catch) we used to catch 300 kg, but now it's about 50 kg...."]

Recently, the sea temperature along the East Coast is between 13 to 16 degrees Celsius, and in the South Sea, it is between 11 to 17 degrees, which is about 1 to 4 degrees higher than this time last year.

The effects of last summer's high temperatures are impacting not only the catch but also the distribution of seafood.

Due to the high temperatures last summer, 20 million rockfish died along the southern and western coasts.

The shipment volume has not yet recovered.

[Park Chan-hee/Sushi Restaurant Owner: "Rockfish is usually eaten in spicy soup, but it's so expensive that it's hard to even have one bowl."]

Sea squirt quality has also declined, but prices have risen.

[Kim Dul-ri/Sea Squirt Seller: "Even the lower quality products are expensive. Since they are not coming out much, you have to wait a few days to get them."]

It is expected that the sea temperature will drop further due to the current cold wave, but the damage to fishermen and merchants is difficult to even quantify.

This is KBS News, Yoon Kyung-jae.