Strengthening government policies on inland aquaculture is necessary.

Published Feb 6, 2026

Tridge summary

Concerns and sighs are deepening among the fishermen who raise eels, a representative species of domestic aquaculture. The sense of crisis in the industry, which has a market size of approximately 700 billion to 1 trillion won annually, has increased due to a significant rise in production. The freshwater eel industry, which imports natural seeds to raise them, faces severe price fluctuations depending on the supply and demand of seeds, making it difficult to operate the farms. When seeds are scarce, there are difficulties in purchasing them, and when production increases, prices drop, and when consumption increases, income often rises. Despite being the only aquatic product subject to a mandatory listing system, the operation of the farms remains unstable.

Original content

Concerns and worries are deepening among the fishermen who raise eel, a representative species of freshwater aquaculture. The industry, with a market size approaching 700 billion to 1 trillion won annually, is feeling a heightened sense of crisis due to a significant increase in production. The freshwater eel industry, which imports natural seeds for cultivation, experiences severe price fluctuations depending on the supply and demand of seeds, making it difficult to operate fish farms. When seeds are scarce, difficulties in purchasing seeds arise, and when production increases, prices drop, and when consumption increases, income often rises. Despite being the only aquatic product subject to mandatory listing, the instability in fish farm operations is due to being excluded from government policies and the low effectiveness of these policies. The industry itself is pushing for the introduction of a seed stocking quota system, requesting strengthened import inspections and origin ...
Source: Fisheco

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