<Anchor>



When I think of squid, I usually think of the East Sea, but now squid fishing is in full swing off the West Sea in midsummer.



After spawning from afar in winter, a lot of them come up to the West Sea following the turbulent flow, and reporter Lee Yong-sik visited the fishing site.



<Reporter>



The squid fishing boats that have finished their operations in the West Sea come into the port one after another.



From early in the morning, the harbor is crowded with ships, and they are busy moving freshly caught squid to vehicles.



Every fishing boat warehouse is full of squid, and when you pick it up with a squid, it wiggles fresh.


Enlarging an image

Live squids are placed in rubber basins and transported to vehicle tanks, which are caught with fishing line from squid fishing boats.



Anything caught in the net is packed in boxes and transported to land.



[Kim Lee-tae / Head of the Offshore Yuja Fisheries Cooperative Association: From July to August 31, we catch squid.

The average daily catch is about 200 boxes...

.]



Squid fishing off the coast of Taean, Chungcheongnam-do started in earnest at the beginning of last month, and about 100 boats are currently operating.



The catch is about 70 tons per day, up 20% from last year, and the auction price is about 40,000 won per box of 20 animals, which is 10,000 won lower than last year.



The squid fishing grounds on the west coast are being formed from Jindo, Jeollanam-do to the offshore of Incheon, and from this month, the adult fishery season, they are mainly caught off the coast of Taean.



About five years ago, squids that had finished spawning in the East China Sea in winter began to flock to the West Sea.



The effect of rising water temperature is large.



[Kim Jung-jin / Researcher of the National Fisheries Science Institute: The summer surface water temperature in the West Sea is 24 to 25 degrees Celsius.

It is formed 1-2 degrees higher than normal.]



To protect fish stocks, the amount of squid that can be caught this year is 85,000 tons.



However, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries decided to crack down on the spot after receiving reports that some fishing boats caught more than the allowable catch.



(Video coverage: Hojun Choi)