Fishermen Rejoice Over Octopus Bumper Crop, Yet Fear It May Be the Last

[Anchor]

Fishing for octopus has officially begun along the southern coast of Gyeongsangnam-do as the closed season has just ended. Fishermen are particularly delighted this year as they are catching larger octopuses in greater numbers. However, there are growing concerns that this could be the last year of such a bumper crop due to record-high water temperatures.

KNN reporter Jung Hyo-jung reports.

[Reporter]

Fishing boats cutting through the dawn sea pull up their traps one by one.

Inside the traps, energetic octopuses appear one after another.

[Yoo Won-young/Captain of Dongbaek-ho: The size is definitely larger than last year. While we used to catch about 15kg to 20kg a day, this year we are catching around 30kg to 40kg.]

They are welcoming a long-awaited bumper harvest now that the closed season has ended.

This is an octopus that was just pulled from the water.

Octopuses, which live in crevices between rocks, are caught using traps.

Just by looking at them, you can tell they are quite large.

However, fishermen cannot fully celebrate this rare abundance.

The reason is the rising water temperature.

The average surface water temperature of our seas in the first half of this year exceeded 17°C (63°F), the highest since related statistics began to be compiled in 2001.

At this rate, the record set two years ago, when the surface water temperature surpassed 20°C (68°F), could be broken again.

Such an increase in water temperature inevitably leads to changes in the overall distribution of marine life.

[Kim Hyun-woo/Marine Fisheries Researcher at the National Institute of Fisheries Science: Due to rising water temperatures, many changes are being detected in the species inhabiting our coastal waters. Overall, there is a trend where cold-water species are decreasing while warm-water species are increasing.]

Concerns are mounting over whether this will affect the growth and distribution of native octopuses.

While this year has fortunately seen a bumper crop of octopus, fishermen along the southern coast are increasingly worried about what long-term changes this will bring to the entire marine ecosystem of the southern sea, including the octopus population.

(Video by Kwon Yong-guk, KNN)

Reported by Jung Hyo-jung, KNN
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.