The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Ministry of Justice on Jan. 5 announced the expanded hiring of foreign aquaculture engineers to cover 16 fish farming species. Shown is a floating cage farm at Cheonsuman Bay in Taean-gun County, Chungcheongnam-do Province. (Taean-gun County)
By Lee Dasom
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Ministry of Justice on Jan. 5 said they will expand this year the employment of such technicians to cover 16 aquaculture species like fish, shellfish, crustaceans, seaweed and invertebrates instead of just sea cucumbers.
The results of a two-year pilot program will decide if the expanded hiring will be permanent.
In September last year, the visa for a general skills worker (E-7-3) was approved for 16 aquaculture varieties by the Ministry of Justice's visa and residence policy council and effectuation began from Jan. 2. This measure reflects industry feedback on the difficulty in securing specialists in aquaculture such as fry management and seed production due to the aging workforce and decline of young staff.
Companies seeking to hire such staff must first find those meeting requirements such as experience in the sector for a certain period and then apply on the Korea Visa Portal (www.visa.go.kr). The visa is approved after the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries sends an employment recommendation and the Ministry of Justice completes a review.
Minister of Justice Jung Sung-ho said, "Our ministry will continue improving the visa system to reflect the voice of those on the ground by actively using the visa and residence policy council."
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