The most expensive fish in Jeju is the saw-edged perch, but it's not easy to taste anytime you want due to its rarity.
The Jeju Marine Fisheries Research Institute has released 20,000 fries of the species to coastal waters to restore fishing ground.
Todd Thacker reports.

[slug] Sagye Port, Andeok-myeon, Seogwipo

This is (사계) Sagye Port in (안덕면) Andeok-myeon, Seogwipo.
Buckets are unloaded from a truck equipped with a fish tank.
Every bucket has many small, energetic fish.
Soon these fry will be released into the sea.

[slug] 5-10 cm saw-edged perch fry released into ocean
These are the spawn of the saw-edged perch, an island species.
They are between 5 and 10 centimeters.

They will grow to their full size within three years.

[slug] Released into rocky ocean habitat
An estimated 20,000 100-day-old fry were released into the coastal waters of (사계리) Sagye-ri. It has a rocky habitat that the saw-edged perch thrive in.

[slug] Saw-edged perch release program began in 2007
The Jeju Marine Fisheries Research Institute began introducing young saw-edged perch into the sea from 2007, to counteract decreasing fish catches.

[slug] Catch increase: From 1.4 tons (2014) to 13 tons (2018)
Recent data for the years 2014 through 2018 show encouraging results. Perch catches have increased ten fold in that time.
Fishing villages have started to benefit from the program.

[slug] Release after cutting ventral fin off for marker
For the first time in Korea, a quarter of perch in this year’s release had one of their ventral fins removed to act as a marker.

Researchers will use these marker animals to study the effect of the marine stock enhancement program.

[slug] 70,000 saw-edged perch, sea bass to be released
The province is planning to stock an additional 70,000 saw-edged perch and sea bass fry into the coastal waters of (김녕) Gimnyeong and (이호) Iho.

[Reporter] Todd Thacker
[Camera] Jwa Sang-eun

It will be interesting to follow the results of this first release of marker fish and the marine stock enhancement program’s effectiveness in boosting the incomes of Jeju’s fishing villages.

Todd Thacker, KCTV