Today's News

It is the consistent policy of the Workers’ Party of Korea to develop offshore farming on a large scale.

President Kim Il Sung clearly indicated the orientation and ways for developing offshore farming and Chairman Kim Jong Il said that doing offshore farming is better than mining gold.

Offshore farming is a promising undertaking with a sure development prospect which can make a substantial contribution to the economic development of the country and the improvement of the people's living standards.

It is because the country has favourable natural and geographical conditions for offshore farming.

The East Sea of Korea has a monotonous coastline and favourable conditions for offshore farming in terms of several aspects including water quality, water depth and water temperature. Therefore, we can build large areas of nurseries in coastal waters, without having to go to deep sea, and increase productivity while saving labour and time needed for managing the nurseries.

The Sinpho City Offshore Farm, for example, has favourable natural and geographical conditions to prevent damage by big waves, tsunamis and others, as a big island around the farm serves as a natural breakwater, and the quality of water for offshore farming is very good.

The Ragwon County Offshore Farm, too, is free from adverse maritime meteorological influences as it is securely surrounded by land on three sides. And the waters off the county have excellent natural, geographical and marine ecological environment, as the sea water is clear and free from sources of pollution. Such aquatic animals and plants as ear shell, sea cucumber and sea urchin have long grown there naturally in large numbers.

The marine ecological environment of the West Sea of Korea is also suitable for the life of marine animals and plants. In particular, it is very favourable for offshore farming as the current of the waters there is good with a vast expanse of tideland around them. As large rivers in the region carry sediments into the sea, its water flow is slow and its tidal range is extensive, it is rich in nutritious salts to generate lots of plankton. This creates favourable conditions for the farming of shellfish and seaweed.

Offshore farming produces big economic profits.

In general, it has a great advantage of being highly profitable as compared with investment.

For example, one hectare of the seashore nursery in the West Sea of Korea can produce on average well over a hundred tons of kelp, which brings economic profits incomparable with the grain output from a field of the same area.

And one hectare of the seashore scallop nursery in the East Sea of Korea annually produces a total output more than double the investment if it is managed by four people.

Offshore farming is simpler than field farming, which requires difficult stages of ploughing, sowing, weeding, fertilizing and others, and the materials for offshore farming can be used for several years if they are properly managed.

Now that the worldwide output of fisheries is not much increasing due to the consequences of the changes in marine ecology, the depletion of marine resources and the ever-worsening global warming, many maritime countries are increasing investment in offshore farming, regarding it as an important component of the prospective marine industry in the 21st century.