Pukyong National University

'Spotlight' PKNU Challenges on the farming Cockle which is extremely expensive in Busan
On the 18th, artificial egg cockle larvae released at the fishing ground of the Nakdong River estuary.

△ On the 18th, an artificial egg cockle larvae discharging event is being held at the Hongchi Village Fishing Ground in Dadae-dong, Busan.

Although it is regarded as a delicacy of the sea which has recently reduced its catch, however, an attempt to farm egg cockle in Busan has attracted attention.

On June 18, Yeongnam Sea Grant Center (Lee Seok-mo, Director) of Pukyong National University released artificial cockle larvae at the Hongchi Village (Dadae-dong, Busan) on the estuary of the Nakdong River.

'Egg Cockle (Korean name: Sae-Jogae)', which are mainly caught on the west and south coasts of Korea, are named after resembling a bird's beak.

The Yeongnam Sea Grant Center of Pukyong National University departed the port of Hongchi Village on the morning of this day, released 5 million artificial larvae of egg cockle by divers and disseminator on board and started to breed.

The Hongchi Village Fishing Ground in the mouth of the Nakdong River was a region where the production of new clams was high in the past. It is considered as an artificial larvae discharge site because it is considered that the egg cockle species are still highly likely to survive, and many other useful bivalves are still inhabited.

Following the discharge of this artificial larvae, the center will put divers here every month to observe the growth of the egg cockle. In the second half of this year, it is planned to educate fishermen in Hongchi Village about collecting egg cockle so that they can gather them from next year.

The new clam farming challenge of the Yeongnam Sea Grant Center in Pukyong National University is part of the project to increasing income of local fishermen through resources and resources increase of useful bivalve in Busan, Ulsan, Gyeongnam supported by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

The Center, along with the Marine Eco Technology Institute (Chief Kim Jin-hee), has been conducting research on the production of artificial larvae by selecting new cockle as bivalve suitable for increasing fishermen's income through this project, which has been in progress since 2017. On the day, the newly released artificial larvae were collected from Yeosu, Jeollanam-do, and they were raised and grown to 3~5㎜.

Research into suitable areas of cockle farming also revealed that the Nakdong Estuary is suitable for cockle farming due to its rich phytoplankton and predator distribution on the sandy and mud bottom.

Lee Seok-mo, director of the Yeongnam Sea Grant Center, said, "We plan to investigate whether the fishermen's actual income increases according to the egg cockle farming, and to assist them in establishing policy measures for resource management in local communities as well as in fishing villages." <Pukyong Today>


△ Divers are diving into the sea with artificial larvae to release.

△ Divers are stocking artificial larvae directly on the sea floor.