Unfortunately named toothfish near top of Korea's fish export list

A Korean vessel catches toothfish near the Antarctic Ocean. [NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FISHERIES SCIENCE]

As always, dried seaweed — gim — and tuna were Korea's No. 1 and No. 2 exports in the agricultural and fishery food products category in 2022.

No. 3 is the surprisingly creepy looking and unfortunately named toothfish, which has a huge mouth and horror-movie teeth.

In some countries, it is known as mero, and in others the Chilean sea bass.

According to a provisional estimate by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries on Tuesday, Korea's seafood exports were a record $3.16 billion in 2022. This was an 11.8 percent increase from the previous year.

Korea sold $655 million of dried seaweed overseas last year and $602 million of tuna. Oysters were No. 4 at $80 million and abalone was No. 5 at $65 million.

Toothfish was in the "Big 3" for the first time, at $90 million.

Exports of toothfish rose from $30.7 million in 2020 to $45.2 million in 2021, and to $90.80 million in 2022 as the amount exported increased and the price jumped 49.5 percent from 2021 to 2022's $30.8 per kilogram.

“Thanks to its good taste and rich nutrition, toothfish is recognized as an expensive food ingredient in countries abroad,” said Park Seung-joon, an official at the oceans ministry.

Toothfish is a fish species better known as mero. The word is a Japanese pronunciation of Merluza, hake in Spanish. Toothfish have a gaping mouth with razor-sharp teeth. They swim in waters far from Korea, in the icy cold Antarctic seas as far down as 2,000 meters. They can reach over 2.3 meters in length and weigh more than 200 kilograms. They are thought to live up to 50 years old.

Toothfish are naturally rich in protein and Omega 3. It is easy to cook as the small scales can be easily removed. Referred to as “the beef of the sea,” it is popular in the United States and Japan. In the U.S., in particular, the species is marketed as Chilean sea bass and sold as steaks.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries estimates that about a quarter of the world's toothfish catches were from Korea.

Korea was put on the U.S. preliminary list of countries engaged in illegal fishing, known as a illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, in 2013 and 2019, with the U.S. saying Korean illicitly operated fishing boats near Antarctica. Although the designations were lifted in 2015 and 2021, if Korea is confirmed to be an IUU nation, the country will be subject to stronger sanctions, such as being banned from shipping fishery goods to the U.S. and its ships could be prohibited from entering U.S. ports.

“As toothfish is a highly value-added marine food, we will continue our efforts to be acknowledged by the international community by encouraging exports, preventing illegal fishing, and studying ways to preserve the Antarctic ecosystem,” Park said.

BY KIM KI-HWAN, SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]