[2026 National Assembly Audit] Moon Daerim: "125.05 Million Farmed Fish Lost to High Temperatures in Four Years; Shift to Prevention-Focused Policies"

October 23 Comprehensive Audit by the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee
"A pilot project to modernize facilities using smart aquaculture technologies and energy-saving equipment should be launched"

From 2022 through September 4, 2026, about 125.05 million farmed fish nationwide died due to high water temperatures. This has prompted calls for a shift toward prevention-focused policies, beyond compensation for losses and emergency assistance.

Moon Daerim, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker on the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee, on October 23 urged the government to launch a pilot project to modernize facilities at existing land-based fish farms in Jeju. The project would comprehensively apply smart aquaculture technologies and energy-saving facilities to address recurring damage from high water temperatures.

Moon Daerim, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker.

“Whenever damage from high water temperatures occurs, we repeatedly resort to emergency measures such as supplying liquid oxygen. But these measures alone cannot resolve the structural problems caused by climate change,” Moon said. “It is time to go beyond post-disaster support and change the aquaculture facilities themselves.”

According to data the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries submitted to Moon’s office, about 125.05 million farmed fish nationwide died due to high water temperatures from 2022 through September 4 this year. Confirmed losses from 2022 through 2025 totaled about 205.6 billion won, while this year’s losses are still being tallied. In 2024 alone, about 68.56 million fish died, with losses reaching 143 billion won.

As a result, government subsidies for disaster insurance covering farmed aquatic products nearly doubled, rising from about 14 billion won in 2021 to about 27.5 billion won in 2025. About 28.1 billion won had been provided through August this year. Moon stressed that policies must shift toward prevention, going beyond compensation for losses and emergency assistance.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries launched its “Pilot Aquaculture Support Project for Climate Change Response” this year. However, Moon said the project focuses on switching farmed species or relocating farms, limiting its ability to improve facilities at existing farms. The ministry has also prepared a basic design plan for standard models of land-based flounder and spotted halibut farms and plans to develop design standards for smart aquaculture next year. But with high land prices and permitting issues making it difficult to build new farms, Moon said existing farms need to be modernized.

“With labor, electricity and feed costs rising alongside the damage caused by high water temperatures, simply replacing aging facilities or providing support for individual pieces of equipment is not enough,” Moon said. “We need to comprehensively apply smart aquaculture technologies and energy-saving facilities, and verify their effects in reducing production costs, improving productivity and mitigating damage from high water temperatures.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.