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Recently, a rare golden eel was caught at the mouth of the Han River. It is said that the color symbolizes fortune and wealth, and fishermen took it as a good sign, but there are also concerns about the Han River ecosystem.
By Song In-ho.
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Park Chan-soo, who has been fishing for nearly 20 years in the fishing villages at the estuary of the Han River.
Earlier this month, when freshwater eel fishing was in full swing, I found an unexpected fish while lifting a net near the Haengju Bridge.
Freshwater eel with black spots on a yellow background, mixed with regular eel.
[Park Chan-soo / Haengju Fisherman: About 500g. It will be about 50 cm long. I was very surprised that I caught it unexpectedly.]
I was caught in the Geumgang tributary in Cheongyang, Chungcheongnam-do 4 years ago, but this is the first time I caught it in the estuary of the Han River.
[Park Chan-soo / Haengju Fisherman: It is not human psychology to accept it as auspicious. Also, it's golden. Maybe something good will happen.] It
is presumed to be a rare mutant species in the natural ecosystem.
[Dr. Lee Wan-ok / President of the Korea Freshwater Fish Conservation Association: It is not yet scientifically possible to find a special cause now. Discoloration of the skin and these are mutations.]
Golden eels were caught, but the catch of eels in the Han River Estuary is not as good as it used to be.
In particular, the catch of eel, the main source of income for fishermen, has decreased significantly.
In the spring, they earned more than 70% of their annual income by catching eels migrating from the West Sea to the Han River.
[Shimhwasik/Dishju Fishing Village Fisherman: (Stringworm) If you bump into something like toxic substances or saliva, they all turn white and die.
This is the only place in Korea where string bugs appear.] The
fishermen decided to return the golden eel back to the river in order to regain the reputation of the former 'golden fishery'.
(Video editing: Choi Eun-jin, VJ: Oh Se-gwan)