culture

A family living in neighbourhood unit No. 49 in Janggyong-dong No. 1 of Sosong District, Pyongyang, is well-known for raising many ornamental fishes.

It is the family of Rim Myong Chol, driver at the Ministry of External Economic Relations.

His house reminds visitors of an aquarium.

Two of three living rooms are filled with big and small fish bowls. So, visitors to his house say they feel as if they see an aquarium. Different kinds of ornamental fishes, including red carassins auratus, angelfish, Mollienisia sphenops, zebra fish and guppy, swim about in the fish basins.

Spectacular are a couple of ornamental gold carps with their golden scales glistening playing about in a big fish bowl in the anteroom.

It is part of his family’s daily routine to spend a pleasant time seeing fishes swimming in bowls back home from work, Rim said.

Everyone has their own joy of life and he has become rich in emotion and more attached to his family since he began to raise fishes, he said, adding that it is refreshing and pleasant to see fishes swimming serenely and it relieves him of fatigue from a day’s work.

He said he began to raise fishes over ten years ago.

In his spare time, Rim studied the scientific method of breeding ornamental fishes and got the knack of it through visits to the Grand People’s Study House and Sci-Tech Complex. Finally, he became a master at raising fish. 

Rim, with profound knowledge and rich experience, confidently says that it is necessary to know well about the quality of water and feed in order to raise ornamental fishes. He always collects the world data on such fishes and often goes to see “patients” at other families raising such fishes.

According to him, raising fishes requires ardour along with a relevant taste.

He unusually liked to raise fishes from his childhood. So he married a breeder working at the Taedonggang Fish Farm. His wife Yun Son Ae greatly helped him become a “man of wide knowledge”, he said. Then, she said with a smile that they had only a small fish bowl with two goldfishes during their newly-wed life but now they have big fish bowls and theirs is called “goldfish family”.

They usually have a lot of fries every ten days and unstintingly distribute them to not only their villagers and friends but even those who visit their home for the first time after hearing about the family, and tell them how to raise the fishes in detail.

“Only those who have ever raised fishes can find pleasure in seeing fishes grow and making friends and promoting friendship with each other, talking about fishes,” said Rim.

The couple’s dream is to write a book on the experiences in and knack of raising ornamental fishes and breed and spread many world-famous ornamental fishes.