opinion

In July, Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, organized a consultative meeting on the development of regional economy at the seaside of Sinpho City, South Hamgyong Province, and set forth the tasks of wonderfully building the Sinpho Offshore Farm into a new model base for shallow-sea culture and generalizing it to bring about a substantial improvement in the economic development of the coastal cities and counties and the people's living standards.

Our country has a long coastline. Therefore, there are many coastal areas among the 200 cities and counties of the country.

Many years ago President Kim Il Sung instructed that the coastal areas should make effective use of the sea and Chairman Kim Jong Il noted that developing shallow-sea culture is better than mining gold.

For the coastal cities and counties to develop shallow-sea culture takes an important position in the regional development and improvement of the people’s standard of living.

It is highlighted as a more urgent issue today when the country is seething with activities to implement the Party's regional development policy.

The successful shallow-sea culture alone will not only help solve the problem of raw materials needed for revitalizing the production at regional-industry factories but also provide favourable conditions and environment for regional development.

In fact, shallow-sea culture is a work well worth doing with determination.

Considering that well over a hundred tons of kelp can be harvested in one hectare of the seashore nursery in the West Sea of Korea on average, the investment in it is very small. If it is cultivated together with scallops, mussels, sea cucumbers and others, they will bring greater economic profits.

The coastal cities and counties are now buzzing with vigorous activities to develop aquaculture on a large scale under the state’s concern.

A panel was organized within the non-permanent committee for the promotion of Regional Development 20×10 Policy to be held wholly responsible for the construction of offshore farms, and a system was established to control and guide the work of deploying aquaculture bases in the coastal cities and counties.

The city of Sinpho in South Hamgyong Province, a typical coastal area with a small cultivated area compared with the population, has been set as a model unit and shellfish are being raised on a trial basis.

Meanwhile, many fishery units in the East and West Seas of Korea direct efforts to improving the methods of cultivation and breeding on the basis of advanced science and technology.

They work hard to elevate the scientific level of all the processes up to the management of shallow-sea nursery and the maintenance of ecological environment while giving precedence to bringing about a revolution in the seed production. They also promote technical exchange with those units which benefit from shallow-sea culture and develop various processing techniques. 

As a result, the Wonsan Seafoods Processing Station increased the per-hectare yield of mussels in the waters of the East Sea of Korea to over 100 tons and several offshore farms in the West Sea of Korea harvested hundreds of tons of kelp on a daily average in May this year.

If the coastal cities and counties exploit and use the economic potentials and resources of the sea effectively to suit the natural and geographical features of the country, the people's living standards will be improved as soon as possible.