INCREASE IN JELLYFISHES

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Scorching heat affects the marine ecosystem as well. Warmer sea temperatures tend to invite jellyfish, an unpleasant pest for fishermen. Jellyfish are thriving in waters off Goheung, Jeollanam-do Province to the point that they interfere with fishing.

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Deukryangman Bay spanning from Goheung and Boseong to Jangheung in Jeollanam-do Province. Fishermen pull up a net but it is filled with translucent jellyfish instead of their daily catch. These are moon jellies that appear during the summer season when sea temperatures rise. The moon jelly may not be very toxic but they tend to appear in great numbers and ruin the fishing grounds.

[Soundbite] Kang Du-yeong(Shrimp Fisherman) : "The net is dragged to catch shrimps, but it fills up with jellyfish instead, keeping other fish and shrimps out of the net and causing much loss for fishermen."

It was June 23rd when a jellyfish alert was issued in the Gyeongsangnam-do and Jeollanam-do seas. Its population is only growing with time. In some cases, up to 28,000 jellyfish per 100 square meters have been observed. Local governments are out to remove them everyday, but insufficient budget and manpower are the problems.

[Soundbite] Lee Jeong-wan(Oceans and Fisheries Bureau, Goheung-gun County Gov’t) : "We are severely short on budget. The allocated money is used up in about 10 days. We need to implement a bigger budget."

A daily average of between 30 and 50 tons of jellyfish are caught in Goheung-gun County alone. Longer days and warmer seawater are causing jellyfish to grow faster. Fishermen are worried that a prolonged heat wave would worsen the damage.