◀ Reporter ▶
Hwangtae must be dried well during the winter in the cold wind to complete it.
This winter, the temperature is moderately low, so well-dried Hwangtae are densely hung in every deokjang.
However, winter, which is getting shorter due to climate change, is a problem for Hwangtae Deokjang.
We covered Hwangtaedeokjang in Inje, Gangwon-do, which is having a busy winter while adapting to climate change.
◀ Report ▶
Yongdae-ri, Inje-gun, Gangwon-do, produces 70% of domestic pollack.
In order for Hwangtae to dry well, three weather conditions in winter must be right.
Low temperatures, moderate snow and wind.
This is because yellow pollack must be dried properly while retaining moisture while repeatedly freezing and thawing.
This year, the average temperature in January in Inje, Gangwon-do was minus 4.6 degrees Celsius.
Compared to the winter of three years ago when the average temperature in January was only minus 0.1 degrees Celsius, the conditions are good for dried pollack.
The snow, which hadn’t come much in a while, was moderately piled up this year.
[이종구/황태덕장 대표]
″The weather is so nice, so this crop is pretty good. It came out well with this skinny thing and plumpness.”
However, climate change is a big concern here in Hwangtae Deokjang.
The biggest change is that Pollack is no longer caught in the East Sea.
Pollack, which was caught in excess of 100,000 tons a year until the 1980s, disappeared in the 2000s.
In 2019, hunting was completely banned.
Along with overfishing, the increase in seawater temperature due to climate change is pointed out as the cause.
[이선길/국립수산과학원 동해수산연구소 연구관]
″As the surface water temperature of the East Sea rises, eggs do not hatch or an environment unsuitable for young pollock to survive continues…″
In Inje, Gangwon-do, where Hwangtae Deokjang is located, the speed of climate change in winter is also fast.
In the 1980s, the average temperature in January in Inje was minus 6.3 degrees, but in the last 10 years it has risen by nearly 3 degrees to minus 3.7 degrees.
In the 1980s, the number of days when the daily average temperature was below -10 degrees Celsius was on average eight days in January, but recently it has been reduced to two days.
Hwangtae deokjang are adapting to climate change in their own way.
In the 1980s, Pollack caught in the East Sea was washed in valley water and hung to dry throughout the winter.
Now, imported pollack is stored in a freezer for a long period of time and then put out when the winter weather is suitable to make pollack.
[김재식/황태덕장 대표]
″We are always concerned. My ears perk up now whenever I hear about global warming… I don’t know what will happen in the future, but I’m always working hard to prepare for it…”
Climate change requires deep consideration and effort to preserve the old ‘taste’.
This is MBC News Kim Min-wook.
Video coverage: Jang Young-geun / Video editing: Lee Hye-ji
