Video credit: Hisham El Gazzar (Egypt)
Review: Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the video channel)
The olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) is also known as “bastard halibut”. The flounder has been cultured in South Korea since 1980s when 19 tons of farmed flounder were produced in 1980. Afterwards, the production of olive flounder has witnessed a steadily and sharply increase, peaking to 54,432 tons in 2009 then fluctuating from year to year amounting 42,133 tons in 2014 (FAO statistics).
The olive flounder, being a high-value fish, has ranked at the top of aquaculture production of finfish in Korea. The development of olive flounder farming has been supported by its high growth rate, better feed efficiency, and its tolerance to water temperature changes. Moreover, the availability of year-round hatchery-produced seeds is an important factor in the development of flounder aquaculture. Also, South Korea is by far the top global producer of olive flounder; in 2005; Korea produced more than 42,000 tons of olive flounder representing more than 70% of the global supply of the species.
The olive flounder is mainly farmed in flow-through systems at land-based facilities located on the coast. Usually, farms of olive flounder have access to seawater, which is pumped directly from the open sea into the head tanks and subsequently supplied to the fish tanks. The largest quantity of Korean flounder is produced in Busan.
The olive flounder is very popular among Koreans for its good taste and for being one of the most species for raw fish dishes on the Korean market.
