High temperatures kill more than 5 million farmed fish in South Korea’s Gyeongsangnam-do

More than 5 million farmed fish have died along South Korea’s southern coast as high temperatures continue to damage aquaculture operations in Gyeongsangnam-do.

The provincial government said 521,200 additional fish died at 21 farms the previous day, bringing the year’s total to 5.212 million fish across 224 farms. Rockfish accounted for most of the losses, with 4.262 million deaths. Other affected species included black rockfish, mullet, filefish, mackerel, flounder, olive flounder and yellowtail.

The province also received its first report of abalone deaths this year. Three farms reported that 120,000 abalone had died from the high temperatures. A further 98 lines of sea squirts died, raising cumulative sea squirt losses to 1,296 lines across 92 farms.

Including the abalone and sea squirt losses, estimated property damage has reached 11.94729 billion won. High-temperature warnings remain in effect across all of Gyeongsangnam-do’s coastal waters, and the provincial government is carrying out emergency releases of farmed fish to reduce further losses.