Korea's appetite for jellyfish undented as harmful species sting fishing industry

By Choi Ji-seon
BUSAN, Aug. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's appetite for edible jellyfish remained
undented in the first half of this year, customs officials said Wednesday, even
as harmful species of the sea creature posed challenges for fishermen.

Jellyfish is considered a delicacy in Korea and Japan. South Korea's edible
jellyfish imports reached 3,885 tons worth US$6.3 million in the first seven
months of this year, and 8,383 tons in 2008, compared with 8,595 tons in 2007 and
8,013 tons in 2006, according to data from the customs office.
Increases in import spending were also due to higher costs for commercialization
and processing of jellyfish, said Jang Su-jeong, a researcher at the National
Fisheries Research and Development Institute.
About 80 percent of imports come from China and Thailand, said Kim Myung-jong, a
spokesman at the customs office in Busan, South Korea's largest port city.
"We imported 20 containers of jellyfish in 2007, approximately 30,000kg of
jellyfish, but we imported 15 containers of jellyfish in 2008 mainly due to the
economic recession," an importer in Seoul said.
A high number of harmful jellyfish have swamped the South and Yellow seas this
year, clogging fishing nets, reducing finfish catches and requiring extra labor
to remove.
"It's necessary to find ways to utilize the huge amount of jellyfish on the
shore. If not for food, for ingredients of cosmetics or pharmaceuticals," said
Jang of the fisheries institute.
"To reduce the population of jellyfish in the long term, artificial structures
shouldn't be built along the coastal areas to keep the ocean free from
pollution," he added.
jia@yna.co.kr
(END)