Pollocks have been one of the most abundant and integral fish in South Korea, being a very affordable source of sustenance amongst Koreans in times of destitute. It embeds itself as a staple in Korean cuisine, served in various forms, such as pollock Soup (생태탕), dried pollock soup (황태국), pollock roe (명란). Pollocks also have numerous culture and beliefs surrounding it, including the belief that dried pollocks drive away misfortune in the new year and the belief.
The pollock population started to slowly phase away in Korean waters in the 1980s as the instances of fishing pollocks began to surge. The fishing of pollock constituted around 30% of catches made in the East Sea. However, the overfishing and the lack of consideration of repopulating of the pollocks was the direct cause of the near extinction of pollocks in Korea’s water; it is a result of climate change.
The decrease of the population of pollocks was mainly a result of the global climate regime shift in the 1980s. The sudden climate change affected the ocean’s water on a global scale, which altered the habitat for numerous ocean animals. Similarly, the cuttle fish declined in population since the 2010s and anchovy and mockery reduced and dwindled. On the contrary, the yellowtail, horse mackerel, and the Spanish mackerel rose over the course of 40 years. Yellowtails now comprise around 21.6% of catches reported in Goseong, which is around the north Eastern Coast. Today most pollock are almost entirely imported, which is contrary to the importance that pollocks have in Korean food culture.
Korea’s ocean has increased in temperature 2.6 times the rate of the global average over a period of 55 years. The Summer warming trend is around 3.9 times more sharp than winter since the 2010s (Han et al.). The Sea Surface Temperature (SST) in 2024 was 18.74, which was the highest in the past 57 years of records and an addition of 0.65 degrees celsius from the previous year (Kim).
The increase of temperature of the water reduced the rate of survival of pollocks in their early years. The rise in temperature of the ocean not only impacts the population of pollocks and has a detrimental effect to the local economics depending on fishery. The percentage rise of the SST correlates with a 3.5% decrease of coastal production (Yoo).
In an attempt to restore the pollock population from 2019, Korea has prohibited the fishing of domestic pollock. Nevertheless, the pollock population near the Korean waters have yet to flourish. The decline of the pollock population provides insight of the critical impact that climate change can have on the ocean. It serves as a reminder that the changing climate can influence the ocean and our food supplies.
https://www.e-fas.org/archive/view_article?pid=fas-26-11-639
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