Pollack is from Russia, squid is from China: Imported seafood taking over South Korean dining tables

Seafood

South Korea

Market & Price Trends

Published Feb 17, 2024

Tridge summary

Korea's domestic seafood production changes are influencing its imported seafood market. The majority of pollack, a staple food, is imported from Russia, while squid, with declining domestic catch, is primarily imported from China, with South American imports increasing. Cutlassfish imports are diversifying, with Morocco, Oman, and Venezuela emerging as significant sources. Norwegian mackerel and salmon dominate the market, with most of the imports coming from Norway. China is the main source for imported products like sea croaker, crab, and octopus, while a large proportion of cod is from Russia. Most lobsters are imported from Canada.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

Changes in domestic seafood production are also affecting the imported seafood market. As climate change and changes in local catches come together, the rankings of importing countries also seem to fluctuate. The representative imported fish species is pollack, whose domestic catching has been banned since 2019. Pollack is a national food and is called variously as △ecology, △dongtae, △kodari, △duck pollack, △hwangtae, △nogari, etc. depending on the storage method or growth level, but the seeds are virtually dried in domestic seas. Currently, the majority of pollack distributed in Korea relies on imports from Russia. Last year, pollack imports from Russia amounted to $295.78 million (approximately 393.68 billion won), accounting for 78.5% of the total. Pollack, which is imported in a refrigerated state rather than frozen, is mainly used in ecological soup, and 95.5% of the imported quantity is from Japan, including Hokkaido. Squid, whose domestic catch has plummeted, is mainly ...

Source: Donga