No seafood, no festival: Warming seas leave Korea's coastal food events floundering

BUSAN — Rising sea temperatures are hollowing out Korea's seafood catches, forcing some of the country's best-known coastal food festivals to shrink, shift their dates or disappear altogether.

Gizzard shad, or jeoneo, festivals are struggling to find gizzard shad. Squid festivals are running short of squid. Organizers scramble for supply every festival season, and some events can't secure enough fish to open at all. The government is pushing to ease fishing regulations and restructure the industry in response to the changing conditions.

"We expected the gizzard shad catch to improve by September, but they're still not biting," a representative for the Myeongji Market merchant association in Busan's Gangseo District said in a phone call on Tuesday. "We barely managed to secure enough gizzard shad for the festival."

The three-day Myeongji Market Gizzard Shad Festival opened the same day. The waters off Myeongji, where the Nakdong River estuary meets Korea's southern coast, are rich in plankton and known as the source of "tteok-jeoneo" — gizzard shad prized for flesh so soft and rich it's likened to rice cake. Gizzard shad caught after the spawning closed season, which runs from April to July, put on fat and develop a stronger, savory flavor, earning them a reputation as the signature taste of fall.

Held every August or September since the early 2000s, the Myeongji Market festival — with its raw and grilled gizzard shad tastings, discount sales and free samples — has become one of the region's signature autumn food events.

But in recent years, market vendors have struggled to secure enough gizzard shad for the festival as catches have declined with rising water temperatures. According to the National Institute of Fisheries Science (NIFS), gizzard shad are most active in water between 22 and 24 degrees Celsius (71.6 to 75.2 degrees Fahrenheit). They can tolerate temperatures up to 27 degrees Celsius. This summer, however, some waters reached around 30 degrees Celsius, scattering the schools and driving catches down.

NIFS data show Korea's nationwide gizzard shad catch from January to July this year totaled 2,117 tons — less than the 2,486 tons caught over the same period in 2024, which was considered the worst year on record for high water temperatures. Based on fishermen's reports, the institute expects August's catch to have been poor as well.

A Gangseo District official said the district has been discussing cultural and experience-based programming with merchants as a supplement to the food offerings, "as it gets harder every year to secure enough gizzard shad."

Extreme heat and warming seas have become the new normal, and coastal seafood festivals across the country now face questions about their survival. Squid is another species whose catch has fallen sharply: NIFS figures show the nationwide squid catch from January to July this year totaled 6,029 tons, about half of the 11,216 tons caught over the same period last year.

Ulleung County, North Gyeongsang, moved its squid festival up from August to July this year, shifting the schedule to align with when more squid are available. With squid alone no longer enough to draw tourists, the county also expanded cultural and experiential programming, including squid boat rides and stargazing sessions.

Along Gangwon's east coast, long known for its squid, many festivals have already disappeared entirely. The Jangsahang Bare-Hand Squid Catching Festival (translated) in Sokcho, held for more than 20 years, hasn't taken place since 2020 because of declining catches. Gangneung's Jumunjin Squid Festival, canceled in 2019 due to a typhoon, was never revived. The Donghae Squid Festival at Mukho Port remains suspended as well.

"As water temperatures rise, squid schools are moving north, sharply reducing the amount flowing into coastal waters," a Gangwon official said. "Squid catches are expected to remain generally low for now."

In South Gyeongsang, Changwon's Jindong Sea Squirt Festival (translated), a signature spring event, has been canceled for three straight years amid a sharp drop in mideodeok, or sea squirt, driven by high water temperatures and low-oxygen water masses in the region. In South Chungcheong, the Hongseong Namdang Port Saejogae Festival in Hongseong was renamed last year to the Saejogae and Seafood Festival, adding octopus, flounder and mullet after saejogae, or cockles, fell into short supply.

The government and related agencies are working on a response. NIFS is studying how climate change is shifting the distribution of major fish species and researching ways to forecast catches. "We are pursuing structural improvements, including reducing the number of fishing vessels, with a focus on sectors most affected by climate change," a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official said. "We plan to maintain resource-protection regulations like the closed fishing season while rationalizing regulations related to fishing gear and methods."

BY KIM MIN-JU [[email protected]]