Eel Catch Decline Linked to Belt Worms: Demands for Action Grow

Belt worms have been identified as the cause of the decline in eel catches. /SBS press screen capture

Fishermen are having a hard time due to a pink earthworm-like creature that appeared 11 years ago and invaded the mouth of the Han River. As eel catches decline, fishermen suffer a serious economic hit and point to the worm as the cause and demand measures.

On the 13th, SBS reported that the eel fishing industry at the mouth of the Han River is suffering a serious blow due to string worms that suddenly began to appear 11 years ago. Kim Hong-seok, a fisherman who has been fishing for eels at the mouth of the Han River for nearly 30 years, said he cannot go fishing even in spring, which is eel season. Artificially hatching eels is difficult, so they are bred by catching baby eels, called eels, but with the increase in worms, eel catching has fallen by more than half.

In fact, when Mr. Kim pulled up the net he had placed in the fishing area, instead of eels, many pink earthworms came out. The two eels caught had hardened to a white color after coming into contact with the worm’s slime. It is said that when the worms come into contact with other fish, they secrete toxic mucus that kills the eels.

String bug. /Chosun DB

String bugs first appeared in the Han River Estuary in 2013. It was confirmed for the first time in Korea that “string bugs”, a harmful organism known to live only in the sea, at the time inhabited large number at the bottom of the Han River in Gyeonggi-do. At the time, netizens commented: “He looks like Yeongasi.”

The discovered bedbug is 20 to 30 cm long and is a harmful organism that feeds on annelids, crustaceans, molluscs, etc. using nervous system toxins. Although it is classified as a tangible animal, its exact species is not known. Kim Myeong-cheol, director of the SOKN Ecological Conservation Research Institute, said: “There is still a lack of research on the ecological characteristics of beetles, such as when they inhabited the Han River estuary and what they feed on at the bottom of the river. ”

In 2013, the Western Sea Fisheries Research Institute of the National Institute of Fisheries Science conducted a joint investigation with the Ministry of Environment and the National Institute of Biological Resources and announced that no toxicity and that this did not affect the survival of the eels. The city of Goyang concluded six years ago that the concentration of salt in the area had increased, creating a favorable environment for stem insects, but the cause was not found and specific measures could not be taken.

As eel catching has declined, there are now only 15 fishermen left in Haengju fishing village, which once had 45. The government recommends changing fishing methods, but fishermen say it is realistically difficult to do anything other than fishing with nets. The fishermen ask that the cause of the appearance of the lying insects be re-investigated and countermeasures taken.

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