8 JUNE 2018 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG The 2018 Inter-Korean Summit and Fisheries The historic 2018 Inter-Korean summit between Moon Jae-in, President of South Korea, and Kim Jongun, Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea of North Korea took place on 27 April, on the South Korean side of the Joint Security Area. It was the first time since the end of the Korean War in 1953 that a North Korean leader entered the South’s territory; President Moon also briefly crossed into the North’s territory. The summit was focused on the North Korean nuclear weapons program and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The Panmunjom Declaration was made following the summit. We are now in a new chapter of history and democracy and expect peace and hopefully unification in Korea. Although two Koreas were separated since the end of the Korean War in 1953, there have been many occasional events in Inter-Korean exchange and cooperation, including reunion meetings of family members separated between the North and the South, South Korean investors’ participation in the special economic zones in North Korea including the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, and South Korea’s generous grant of necessities, food and drugs. Wandogun Province, in the southwestern part of the Korean Peninsula, participated in business negotiations to send seaweed products, gim (Pyropia) and miyeak (Undaria) to North Korea in 2006. About 45 organizations, groups, associations, and companies in Wando-gun are preparing a private initiative to conduct major business plans of transferring fisheries and aquaculture technology and supporting pilot aquaculture complexes to North Korea. The KOSFAS 2018 Spring Annual Conference The 2018 Spring Annual Conference of the Korean Societies of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (KOSFAS) was held under the theme of “Convergent Technology of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Future of Fisheries” at Gangneung-Wonju National University in Gangneung City, Gangwon Province in May. Over 350 participants including foreign members of Iran, Japan, Vietnam and Indonesia, from industry, academia, research institutes, and government sectors attended. Prof. Kim PK (President, KOSFAS) welcomed participants. There were welcome speeches by Mr. Ban S-S (President of Gangneung-Wonju National University) and Mr. Kim CL (Vice-mayor on behalf of Mr. Choi MH, Mayor of Gangneung city). During the opening ceremony, three keynote speeches were delivered: “History of Fisheries Society” given by Emeritus Prof. Hong SY (Pukyong National University, Korean Academy of Sciences), “The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Fisheries R & D Direction” by Dr. Seo JW (President, National Institute of Fisheries Sciences), and “Safety Management of Fisheries Products for Upstream Quality Control” by Prof. Shin IS (Dept. of Marine Food Science & Technology, Gangneung-Wonju National University). Special events included the KOSFAS Industry-Academic Seminar 2018 and a food safety symposium. Three concurrent sessions of Resources, Marine Environment, Aquaculture, Biotechnology and Fish Processing were held with 21 invited lectures, 46 oral talks and 194 poster presentations. South Korea’s Fisheries Production Up South Korea’s fisheries catch increased 14.5 percent in 2017 from a year earlier to meet growing consumption. A total of 3.74 million t of marine products were caught from marine and inland waters as well as fish farms in 2017, according to data from the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans. The ratio of aquaculture production jumped 24.3 percent to 2.31 million t, accounting for 62 percent of the total, the ministry said. Local production centers traded 1.14 million tons of fisheries worth 3.57 trillion won (US$3.3 billion) last year (from Yonhap News, 3/19/2018; english.yonhapnews.co.kr). Korea Meteorological Administration and National Institute of Fisheries Science to Share Ocean Observation Networks The Korea Meteorological Administration and the National Institute of Fisheries Science will cooperate to minimize damage caused by abnormal water temperatures due to climate change. The cooperation is to link the real-time ocean observation networks operated by the organizations to reinforce real-time water temperature information so that fisheries and aquaculture workers can utilize the information in responding to fisheries disasters. The National Institute of Fisheries Science, which is responsible for fisheries disasters, issues ‘high temperature / low temperature’ alerts and provides ‘breaking news’ alerts. However, there are only 54 real-time marine environment fishery information systems on the coast of Korea, insufficient to describe changes in water temperature along the whole coast in real time. The Korea Meteorological Administration plans to expand the number of water temperature forecasting points from 54 to more than 100 sites by sharing surface layer water temperature sensors installed at 59 coastal locations nationwide with the National Institute of Fisheries Science. Real-time temperature information will be provided through the website of the National Institute of Fisheries Science and a real-time temperature information app (from Hwankyung Ilbo, 5/7/2018; english.yonhapnews.co.kr). — Ik Kyo Chung, President Korean Chapter CHAPTER REPORTS New Book in the WAS Online Store Sea Bass and Sea Bream — A Practical Approach to Disease Control and Health Management by Pierpaolo Patarnello and Niccolo Vendramin. The aim of this book is to provide practical advice and awareness of health management and disease control in sea bass and sea bream, the most widely-farmed fish in the Mediterranean region. ISBN: 9781910455791
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