High Water Temperature Advisory Issued for South Coast; Emergency Releases Underway to Prevent Mass Fish Die-offs

[Anchor]

High water temperature advisories have now been expanded to all waters along the southern coast of Gyeongsangnam-do. Farmed fish are being released into the open sea out of concern that they could die trapped in overheated water.

Reporter Choi Hyuk-gyu from KNN.

[Reporter]

Rockfish, carefully raised since early this year, are hauled to the water surface in their nets.

After being scooped with a landing net and weighed, they are released directly outside the fish farm.

This is the first emergency release carried out in Gyeongsangnam-do this year to prevent fish deaths caused by high water temperatures.

Releasing the fish in this manner compensates fishermen for 90 percent of the benchmark price, resulting in less financial loss than fish mortality, which only reimburses 50 percent.

With mass die-offs feared for rockfish, which are vulnerable to high water temperatures, fishermen moved to carry out collective releases before the damage could spread.

Some 154,000 rockfish and flathead mullet fingerlings from the farms were returned to the sea.

Because they are being released into nature, their exact survival rate is not tracked, but it is estimated that far more will survive compared to being kept in enclosures.

[Fish Farmer: (At this rate) more than half of them will die off within two to three days. Mortality is already occurring in the current state.]

Already, some 50,000 fish have died across 15 fish farms in Namhae and Hadong.

As even the cold water masses dissipated last week, high water temperature advisories were expanded to the waters of Tongyeong and Geoje.

Warnings have been issued for Sacheon Bay, Gangjin Bay, and Jinhae Bay, with advisories issued for all remaining waters of Gyeongsangnam-do.

As a result, emergency releases are expected to continue in Tongyeong, Geoje, and Goseong.

[Choi Sang-jun / Head of Fisheries Aquaculture Team, Namhae County: (Last year) more than 80 percent of large fish died due to high water temperature and red tide damage. (This year) we are doing our utmost and choosing emergency releases to prevent damage.]

Currently, around 120 fish farms in Gyeongsangnam-do wish to carry out emergency releases, and the scale of the releases is expected to grow rapidly depending on the progression of the high water temperatures.

(Video by: Jeong Chang-wook, KNN)

KNN, Choi Hyuk-gyu
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.