Sejong University succeeded in farming American steelhead in Korea amid rising demand for salmon here, the university said Friday.

Led by professors Kim Min-sun and Lee Jang-won of Integrative Bio-industrial Engineering at Sejong University, a research team imported steelhead eggs from the US, raising juvenile steelhead in river waters and transferring them to sea water. In 13 months, the team succeeded in producing 1.3 kilograms of steelhead on Feb. 4 here.

South Korea has seen an increase in salmon consumption, with more than 40,000 tons of salmon -- with a retail value of about 400 billion won -- imported from other countries as of 2019.

The Sejong Institute of Salmonid Research also made progress in developing a vaccine to protect salmonid from illnesses, helping them better adapt to sea water and producing food for salmonid using insects.

The institute, the country’s only institute dedicated to developing technologies to mass-producing salmon, aims to continue research and cooperation with industry to develop salmon-producing technologies, food for salmonid and vaccines to find new growth models for the country’s economy and food security.

To celebrate the success, a food tasting event was held on Feb. 5 at Daeyang AI Center at the Seoul-based university, displaying a variety of food, including salmon rice rolls and salmon sushi.

(laeticia.ock@heralcorp.com)