East Sea Life Resources Center

The East Sea Life Resources Center, under the East Sea Headquarters of the Korea Fisheries Resources Agency, conducts projects to preserve salmon, a major migratory fish species of the east coast, including seed cultivation, rearing, release, and the creation of natural salmon spawning grounds. More than 70% of Korea's salmon are born in the Namdaecheon Stream in Yangyang, where the center is located, and after growing for 3-4 years in the North Pacific, they return to the Namdaecheon Stream to spawn. However, due to stream destruction, the number of returning salmon is decreasing, so the center directly performs artificial fertilization, raises hatched juvenile salmon for about 5 months, and then releases them into the Namdaecheon Stream. The Salmon Ecology Experience Hall within the center provides detailed information on salmon hatching, growth processes, return routes, and other salmon-related information. In the salmon rearing building, visitors can observe juvenile salmon hatched through artificial fertilization feeding and growing. The center operates ecological experience programs in October-November to welcome mother salmon and in February-March to send off juvenile salmon. These are opportunities to touch salmon that have returned to their hometown or place juvenile salmon in buckets into the waterway, observing salmon ecology up close.