Korea, China Team Up to Fight Pollution - The Dong-A Ilbo
NOVEMBER 11, 2005 07:51
by Hyung-June Park (lovesong@donga.com)
The audit and inspection authorities of the ROK and China are expected to launch a joint yellow dust prevention project as early as next year. A joint inspection of West Sea environmental issues is expected to follow.
A source of the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) of Korea said on November 10, “With Ha Bok-dong, a manager of BAI, as the head of the team, 15 auditors will visit Beijing, China from December 6-7 to discuss ways of cooperation in dealing with yellow dust. In the working group meeting next month, we will raise the issue of pollution of West Sea.” He added, “When we start cooperation in dealing with yellow dust, we will be able to cooperate in tackling pollution in the West Sea.”
If the joint audit on pollution of the West Sea is realized, Korea is expected to conduct an inspection on the dumping of waste that amounts to 100,000 tons annually, while China will focus on the discharge of wastewater by plants near the West Sea.
The BAI conducted an inspection on the prevention of marine pollution from November 15 to December 16, 2004. The results will be announced this month.
The BAI is reported to plan to point out in the announcement that the cost of collecting and handling waste that absorbed salt is astronomical, and that the waste piling up on the tidelands is leading to great damage to the fishing industry.
Meanwhile, the BAI will conduct a joint inspection with China to prevent yellow dust for the first time in Asia.
An official of BAI said, “To prevent yellow dust, the Korean government has invested about 600 million won in China. As the investment of capital and technologies will certainly increase, we decided to cooperate with China.”
Jeon Yun-cheol, the head of the BAI of Korea, first proposed a joint inspection on yellow dust issues to his Chinese and Japanese counterparts in a meeting of the International Organization of Supreme Audit and Inspection (INTOSAI) that was held in Budapest, Hungary on October 12, 2004.
Jellyfish increase stings fishermen's net profit margins - The JoonAng Daily
September 15, 2005 ㅡ TONGYEONG ― Kang Jong-yong and his four fellow fishermen had to put in extra effort as they pulled in their nets Tuesday but they weren't happy with the copious catch ― frothing over with white jellyfish.
Mr. Kang, 74, stabbed a 50-kilogram (110 pound) jellyfish with a hook and as he lifted it, several mackerel and scabbards plunked down on the deck. The nets were filled with limp fish that had been stung by the jellyfish, their bloated bodies covered with a sticky mucous. Many had been squeezed between the jellyfish and were already dead.
"In the morning, we spent two out of four hours picking jellyfish out of the nets. Some nets were so full of jellyfish we didn't bother and just threw them back into the sea," Mr. Kang said.
Mr. Kang is one of the many fishermen on the eastern, southern and western coastal areas of the peninsula who are contending with gigantic jellyfish. The jellyfish are proving to be a nuisance by going into the nets and killing the fish, tearing the nets, and eating up plankton.
In areas where there are a lot of jellyfish, the lack of plankton has caused fish to move out of the area altogether, causing woes for the local fishing industry.
In the markets of Gunsan, North Jeolla province, and Seocheon, South Chungcheong province, prices of gizzard shads ― supposedly in season now ― are sky-high, due to a school of jellyfish that moved in last August.
"It's the season for anchovies and gizzard shads but fishermen here are getting worried about how we're going to make a living because of the jellyfish," said Jang Heung-dae, head of a fishing village in Gunsan.
According to the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, jellyfish have multiplied at amazing rates during the past couple of years. In the case of the Nemopilema nomurai jellyfish, the average density of jellyfish found in nearby surrounding waters between Aug. 2 and 18 was more than double that of the density recorded in the same period in 2003.
In some areas far out in the ocean, jellyfish had multiplied by more than 100 times their number in two years. The agency cited the rising temperature of seawater, due to overall global warming, as the main reason for the increase in jellyfish numbers.
It said that Korea is conducting joint research with China and Japan to at tempt to solve the problem and the three countries will hold a symposium in December to exchange data.
by Kang Jin-kwon <wohn@joongang.co.kr>