A land-based fish farm in Gijang County in the southeastern port city of Busan. (Yonhap)
NAJU, July 19 (Korea Bizwire) — The Korea Rural Community Corp., South Korea’s state-run rural development agency, said Monday it had addressed the chronic concerns of land-based fish farms, among others, damages from hot or cold water temperatures, through the exploration of underground seawater.
Flatfish, abalone and cockles, in general, are farmed in enclosures built on land using nearby seawater.
Accordingly, the hot seawater must be cooled during the summer and heated during the winter, resulting in significant expenses for fish farms.
With ample know-how in the development of water for agricultural use, the agency launched a project to explore the use of underground seawater based on requests from fish farms and municipal governments starting in 2010.
Thus far, a total of 716 wells have been drilled in 148 regions, of which 279 are now used to supply underground seawater to in-land fish farms.
Despite having less salinity, underground seawater maintains a constant temperature (14 to 18℃), thereby contributing to reducing cooling or heating expenses. It’s also safe from red tide and marine pollution.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
