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Bacteria causes fish death, food poisoning
Jo Hong Seop, environmental reporter for the Hankyoreh Red tide is one of the longest-known recurring natural phenomenon, even showing up in the Old Testament. Today, water pollution is accelerating the outbreak of red tide. Given this, it is the world’s responsibility to curb the outbreak of red tide, which causes massive deaths of fish and other sea creatures, as well as increases the risk of food poisoning for consumers. To kill plant plankton, a key source of red tide, people have used a wide range of measures, such as supersonic waves, electrolysis, and the spread of chemicals into the water. Some have used animal plankton, a natural enemy of plant plankton, as well as viruses that eat at the organisms that cause red tide. Interestingly, despite these scientific measures taken, yellow ocher, while one of the least scientific techniques, looks as if it may be the most effective measure to control red tide. Again this year, the occurrence of red tide is increasing along South Korea’s southern coast. The government’s core measure is the spread of yellow ocher. About 212,000 tons of yellow ocher, valued at 3.17 billion won (US$3.4 million), has been secured for the effort. Colloidal particles in yellow ocher tend to adhere to the components of red tide and sink them to the sea floor. In less than 30 minutes, the measure removes 70 to 80 percent of existing red tide.While some experts pointed out the problem of excessive distribution of yellow ocher, no evidence has been found after years of research regarding damage due to the substance. Of course, long-term effects on the ocean ecosystem remain a subject of research. South Korea is regarded as a pioneer in red tide prevention. Since 1970s, the United States and Japan have held that clay is an effective material to kill red tide. However, South Korea is the only country that promotes yellow ocher as a nationwide measure to combat the potentially toxic outbreaks. Currently, the U.S., Canada, and China are paying more attention to yellow ocher as a means to curb the occurence of red tide. Recently, the Ministry of Maritime and Fisheries presented a measure encouraging fish-farm owners to release any fish being held in open-water farms before they are poisoned by red tide. The idea is aimed at relieving the burden faced by fish farm owners, who have been struggling to save their fish amid occurrences of red tide. The ministry has promised to provide compensation to the fish-farm owners. At stake is how many fish will survive. It is questionable whether this simple measure, like the spread of yellow ocher, will succeed.
