Business · Economy · 1 day ago
Aquaculture insurance covers about 41% of farms as climate losses persist
Fishery operators in South Korea reported an average of 57 billion won in damage each year from 2021 to 2025.
High water temperatures caused 82.4% of the reported losses, and damage reached 143 billion won in 2024.
Aquaculture insurance coverage rose to 41.5% last year but stood at 40.7% in September.
That means fewer than half of the operators were covered.
For high-temperature damage, claims took an average of 174 days to pay, compared with 84 days for other damage.
A lawmaker says the government should speed up damage assessments and payments and make insurance easier to obtain.
Suggested changes include more support for small farms and insurance that uses water-temperature and farming data.
The proposal also calls for wider temperature monitoring, but no implementation timetable was given.
Reported fisheries losses from climate disasters averaged 57 billion won a year from 2021 to 2025, while aquaculture insurance coverage remained around 40%.
High-temperature water damage accounted for 82.4% of reported losses, averaging 46.9 billion won.
Losses from high water temperatures reached 143 billion won in 2024.
Aquaculture insurance coverage rose from 37.0% in 2022 to 41.5% in 2025, then fell to 40.7% as of September 2026.
Claims for high-temperature water damage took an average of 174 days to pay, more than twice the 84-day average for other damage.
- Who
- South Korean lawmaker Mong Geum-ju cited data from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.
- What
- Reported climate-related fisheries losses remained high while aquaculture insurance coverage was about 41%.
- When
- The data cover 2021–2025, with insurance coverage reported as of September 2026. The report was published on October 11, 2026.
- Where
- South Korea.
- Why
- Climate disasters, especially high water temperatures, caused substantial reported losses; Mong called for changes to improve coverage and speed compensation.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Reported fisheries damage averaged 57 billion won a year, with high-temperature water damage accounting for 82.4%.
Aquaculture insurance coverage was 37.0%.
High-temperature water damage reached 143 billion won.
Aquaculture insurance coverage was 41.5%.
Aquaculture insurance coverage stood at 40.7%.
Yonhap reported the figures and Mong Geum-ju called for improvements to the insurance system.
- Average annual reported fisheries losses, 2021–2025
- 57 billion won
- High-temperature water damage share of losses
- 82.4%
- High-temperature water damage, 2024
- 143 billion won
- Aquaculture insurance coverage, September 2026
- 40.7%
- Average claim payment time for high-temperature damage
- 174 days
What people are saying
Observation, damage assessment, and insurance payment calculations and disbursement must be linked swiftly to dramatically shorten the compensation period and raise insurance coverage.
In an era of climate change, aquaculture insurance must not stop at compensating after damage occurs.
Sources
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