Prices of seafood such as flounder and hairtail are surging. The factors include increased fuel costs from the prolonged war in the Middle East and the climate crisis.

According to Suhyup Noryangjin Fisheries on the 10th, among major species landed at Noryangjin Fisheries Market in the first week of June (1∼6), settlement prices (wholesale prices) for flounder, octopus, and croaker rose sharply from the previous week. Wild flounder (1㎏) was 11,100 won, up 37% from the previous week average (8,100 won); octopus was 24,800 won, up 16.98%; and croaker was 31,500 won, up 23.53%.

Prices of seafood for ‘side dishes’ such as hairtail and mackerel also climbed year on year. Hairtail (1㎏) was 20,700 won, up 39.86% from the same period a year earlier (14,800 won), and mackerel was 1,900 won, up 18.75%.

Prices of king crab and snow crab also increased. The average settlement price for king crab was 60,000 won, up 32.74% from a year earlier, and snow crab was 32,500 won, up 9%.

Squid faces stronger upward price pressure due to reduced catches. According to the Korea Maritime Institute (KMI), the squid catch of the coastal jigging fishery during the 17~23 period last month was 9t, a 76.9% decrease from the same period a year earlier (40t).

Typically, seafood shows seasonal changes in catch volume and prices, but recently the volatility of some items appears to have increased as changes in weather conditions such as high water temperatures have combined with the burden of high oil prices. The National Institute of Fisheries Science forecast that sea temperatures this summer will be at least 1.0 degrees higher than average.

To stabilize seafood supply and demand, the government raised the payment cap for the price-linked subsidy on tax-exempt fuel, for fishing diesel, from 138.4 won per ℓ to 176.2 won through September. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries plans to supply up to 8,000t of government stockpiles of pollock, mackerel, squid, hairtail, and other items to the market by the 15th of next month. It also expanded the budget for distributing equipment to respond to high water temperatures from 5.8 billion won last year to 7.6 billion won this year and provided early support to aquaculture farms.

In addition, starting on the 1st of next month, night operations will be fully permitted for the first time in 44 years in coastal waters of Incheon and Gyeonggi (south of 37 degrees 30 minutes north latitude). The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries projected that this measure will lead to an additional annual catch of about 3,200t of seafood and an income increase of about 18.7 billion won.