South Korea’s wild pollack population, considered near-extinct since the turn of the millennium, may be making a comeback.



The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said Thursday that a wild pollack, locally called “myeongtae,” was caught in eastern waters near Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province. The fish, procured through a net installed 100 meters underwater, was 56 centimeters long, a tad smaller in size than its typical 61 centimeters. It was transported live to a research facility under the National Institute of Fisheries Science for further inspection.





Wild pollack caught in waters off Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province (Yonhap)



The government has been running a recovery project worth 24.8 billion won ($21.9 million) since 2014 to invigorate the South Korean pollack population. A crucial part of the project was releasing 1,000 fry, or juvenile fish, into the wild in the waters adjacent to the coastal city of Sokcho, Gangwon Province, last June.



The fry had labels attached to their dorsal fins to distinguish them from wild shoal. There were no signs of any labels on the fish caught Thursday.



Experts blame global warming along with ruthless overfishing for the decline of the pollack population in South Korea, which according to data released by the Japanese Government General of Korea, took up 14.9 percent of Korea’s entire seafood market in 1942. Currently, approximately 90 percent of pollack consumed in Korea is imported from either Russia or Japan.





A poster designed to promote the search for Pollacks in South Korean waters. (Yonhap)