The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said the centre near Incheon International Airport west of Seoul will be opened for operations Tuesday and could help the transport of live fisheries goods by plane.

The facility, to be managed by the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative (Suhyup), will help reduce costs of exporters who at present have to operate individual aquariums and packaging lines.

It can also help ship live fish to countries such as the United States.

"It is estimated that a centralized facility can save each exporter 500 million won (US$424,553) per year and can fuel overseas sales of such products as flounder and abalone," said Park Chong-guk, deputy minister for fisheries policies.

He pointed out that in the past, many local companies were not able to meet overseas demand because they could not export their products live.

The ministry and Suhyup said exports of flounder that reached 400 tonnes this year may rise by 200 tons in 2010, while abalone exports can benefit as well.

Source: Bernama

Updated by Vietfish Community