January 26, 2012

South Korea's aquaculture restrictions to relax

South Korean government Tuesday (Jan 24) plans to ease regulations blocking conglomerate entry allowing large companies to enter the aquaculture sector for select items. 



"We need large-scale capital to nurture the fisheries sector," said Minister Seo Gyu-yong of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MIFAFF) in an interview last Thursday. "We are planning to abolish the current ban on large company entry into the aquaculture industry," he said. 



Current regulations disqualify companies with more than 1,000 full time employees and capital asset over KRW500 billion (US$446 million) from obtaining fisheries licenses. This law has prevented large company entry into marine farming, shellfish farming, and fish farming that could have benefited from large capital inflow.