December 10, 2007

Oil spill devastates seafood industry in South Korea's south-west coast

An oil spill in South Korea's southwest coast has affected hundreds of aquaculture farms, with cleanup efforts likely to last for the next two months, government officials said.

The oil spill, believed to be the worst in the country's history, saw thousands of tonnes of crude oil contaminating a long stretch of coastline heavily dependant on fishing, seafood farming and tourism.

The oil spill occurred when the 147,000-tonne Hong Kong-registered Hebei Spirit collided with a barge last Friday. The crane on the barge punched a hole through the hull, resulting in 10,000 tonnes of crude oil spilling into the Yellow Sea. Although the crew has finally stopped the leakage, most of the damage has already been done.

A state of disaster has been declared in the Taean county, 150 kilometres southwest of Seoul.

Maritime Minister Kang Moo-Hyun said he estimated the clean-up would take ''at least two months'' given the size of the oil slick.

He added there was serious contamination along 17 to 20 kilometres of coastline, with the oil sludge either glued onto beaches or sinking to the seabed.

This meant seafood caught or farmed in the area, even had they survived, would not be marketable for a while

The Taean area includes 181 aquatic farms producing abalone, seaweed, littleneck clams and sea cucumbers, according to Lee Seung-yop, a Taean County official. There are about 4,000 aquatic farmers.

Some, declaring the ocean dead, have given up hope of re-establishing their aquaculture farms and have resolved to move away from the area.