South Korea eats a lot of salmon — and grows almost none of it. That is about to change. On 30 September 2026, Eco Aquafarm, a subsidiary of construction giant GS E&C, held a “Clean K-Salmon Shipment Declaration Ceremony” at the Busan Smart Aquaculture Cluster in Gijang County, Busan, to mark the first commercial-scale harvest of Atlantic salmon raised entirely on land in Korea. The fish, stocked as eyed eggs in 2024, reached 4–5 kg in about 27 months — full market size — inside a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) that reuses up to 99% of its water.
Full-scale sales are scheduled to begin at the end of 2026, with the company already negotiating supply deals with supermarkets, hotels and restaurants. For a country that imported 99.7% of its salmon in 2025, this is the first proof that a cold-water fish can be farmed at home, year-round, without a single sea cage.
The farm at a glance
| Operator | Eco Aquafarm, a subsidiary of GS E&C (established May 2020) |
| Facility | Busan Smart Aquaculture Cluster, Gijang County, Busan — inside the Fisheries Science Institute of Pukyong National University |
| System | Land-based recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) with Zero Water Concept — water reuse up to 99% |
| Species | Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), grown from eyed eggs to market size entirely on land |
| Harvest size | 4–5 kg per fish, after about 27 months |
| Max capacity | 500 tonnes per year (demonstration-scale testbed) |
| Rearing water | Held at 12–16°C year-round, even in Korean summers of 25–28°C+ |
| Milestone | Shipment declaration ceremony, 30 September 2026; full-scale sales from end of 2026 |
| Investment | KRW 40 billion testbed (KRW 22 billion national government + KRW 12 billion Busan City + KRW 6 billion private) |
How Korea grew a cold-water fish in a warm climate
Atlantic salmon is a cold-water species that thrives in cold, clean water — and Korea’s coastal waters now reach 25–28°C or higher in summer, conditions that can be fatal to the fish. Earlier attempts to farm salmonids in Korea struggled for exactly this reason. Eco Aquafarm’s answer was to move the sea indoors.
The Busan cluster manages every life stage on land: eyed eggs are hatched, fry are reared in freshwater, juveniles pass through smoltification — the physiological transition that prepares them for seawater — and are then grown in seawater through intermediate rearing to adult size. The production line runs in four rearing systems, RAS1 to RAS4, with fish moved in sequence as they grow: about 30 g at transfer to the smolt unit, about 450 g into seawater-based intermediate rearing, about 2 kg, and finally to market size in the adult production stage. At each stage, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, flow velocity and water quality are precisely controlled.
Two technologies make the system work. First, temperature control: chillers, heat exchangers and a precision control system hold rearing water at 12–16°C even in midsummer — effectively turning a Korean summer into a Norwegian sea. Second, the Zero Water Concept (ZWC): an advanced water-treatment step added to a conventional RAS removes nitrate, fine suspended solids and other substances that accumulate in rearing water, pushing water reuse as high as 99%. For land-based aquaculture, which uses a great deal of water, cutting both make-up water consumption and effluent discharge is a key determinant of environmental performance and economics.
The farm is also run by data. A SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system collects and analyses water quality and facility data in real time, and equipment is controlled automatically when temperature or dissolved oxygen moves outside its set range. Underwater cameras assess salmon growth and help decide the right time to transfer fish to the next life stage — technology Eco Aquafarm has filed a patent application for. The company also holds a 2023 patent on its recirculating aquaculture facility and raw water treatment method, and a 2025 patent for a desalination-based aquaculture facility.
Timeline: from testbed to first harvest
| 2019 | Busan City selected in the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries’ call for smart aquaculture cluster projects; the first of six smart aquaculture clusters promoted nationwide |
| May 2020 | GS E&C establishes Eco Aquafarm as a fisheries corporation; Busan City and GS E&C sign an MOU to develop the Busan Smart Aquaculture Cluster |
| July 2024 | Atlantic salmon eyed eggs stocked for research — start of the large-scale demonstration |
| November 2024 | Eyed eggs for production and commercial sales added |
| December 2024 | Facility completed; “K-Salmon Localization Declaration Ceremony” held |
| March 2025 | Registration under the National Fishery Products Quality Management Service’s fishery product traceability system |
| September 2025 | HACCP registration approval for the farm |
| June 2026 | Antibiotic-free certification obtained for its Atlantic salmon |
| 18 August 2026 | KRW 3 billion rights offering decided to secure operating funds ahead of commercialisation |
| 30 September 2026 | “Clean K-Salmon Shipment Declaration Ceremony” — first fish reach market size (4–5 kg) |
| End of 2026 | Full-scale commercial sales scheduled to begin |
Importantly, this is not a one-off trial. The salmon stocked since 2024 are managed in multiple batches — seven batches were in operation by mid-2026 — with new eyed eggs for production and shipment continuing to be stocked through 2026. The first production run is part of a batch system being built for year-round output.
Why 500 tonnes matters — and why it doesn’t (yet)
Here is the honest arithmetic. According to the Korea Maritime Institute, Korea’s domestic salmon supply in 2025 totalled 73,588 tonnes — of which 73,354 tonnes, about 99.7%, were imported, and domestic production was just 234 tonnes. Against that, the Busan cluster’s maximum output of 500 tonnes a year is less than 1% of total supply. Korean fish cannot yet compete with Norwegian salmon on volume, and “import substitution” should be used with caution at this stage.
What the project does prove is more valuable than tonnage: a complete, integrated production system — from eyed-egg stocking through hatching, fry production, smoltification, seawater acclimation, intermediate rearing, adult production, water quality management, automatic control, disease management and sales — actually works in Korea, at scale, for one of the hardest species to farm on land. GS E&C describes the project as building a “land-based aquaculture technology and operations platform”, not simply a salmon business: the water treatment, environmental control and culture management technologies could be extended to other high-value species.
The economics are still the open question. Land-based RAS demands enormous upfront capital, and raising a cold-water fish in Korea means continuous energy use for cooling, water pumping, oxygenation, filtration and disinfection, plus feed, seed, labour and maintenance. Whether production costs can be brought down toward the level of imported salmon — and whether survival rate, growth rate, feed conversion ratio and harvest turnover hold up at commercial scale — will decide whether K-Salmon becomes an industry or stays a demonstration.
Food safety is built in, not bolted on
Growing the fish is only half the job; selling it is the other half. Alongside the production demonstration, Eco Aquafarm built its food safety and quality systems: fishery product traceability registration in March 2025, HACCP registration approval in September 2025, and antibiotic-free certification for its Atlantic salmon in June 2026. In November 2025 it signed an MOU with the National Institute of Fisheries Science (NIFS) on disease management technology, including research on aquatic organism diseases and preventive vaccines, and in March 2026 an MOU with LG Electronics on hygiene at land-based aquaculture plants. Seed supply, feed, disease management, hygiene, processing and distribution all have to link together — these partnerships are the foundation of a K-Salmon industry ecosystem.
What Indian aquaculture can take from Busan
India’s aquaculture story is very different from Korea’s — warm-water shrimp, carps and tilapia dominate — but the Busan lessons travel well:
- RAS tames climate. If a cold-water species can be held at 12–16°C through a 28°C summer indoors, the same engineering logic protects warm-water species from heatwaves, floods and cyclones. India’s cold-water trout belt in the Himalayas faces the mirror-image problem — warming streams — and the Munsiyari trout boom shows how much is at stake there.
- Water reuse is the real innovation. A 99% reuse rate matters wherever groundwater is scarce or effluent rules are tightening. Any Indian RAS or biofloc entrepreneur should ask vendors the Busan question: what is the make-up water per tonne of fish?
- Batch production, not one-off harvests. Seven batches in staggered rearing systems give year-round supply — the difference between a farm and a project. The same discipline applies to shrimp and fish hatcheries at home.
- Certification before sales. Traceability, HACCP and antibiotic-free certification were secured before the first commercial sale. Indian exporters already know this; domestic-focused farms should note it too, as retailers and consumers start asking the same questions.
- Land-based salmon is now a global race. Quebec is building a land salmon farm targeting 10,000 tonnes, China is scaling its own RAS salmon — see our report on China’s 1,000-farm seafood push — and India is testing open-sea cage farming with NIOT. The technology is moving fast; the winners will be the farms that master water, temperature and data together.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Korea’s first land-based salmon farm?
At the Busan Smart Aquaculture Cluster in Gijang County, Busan, inside the Fisheries Science Institute of Pukyong National University. It is operated by Eco Aquafarm, a subsidiary of GS E&C.
How big were the first harvested salmon?
4–5 kg per fish, after about 27 months from eyed-egg stocking in 2024 to the September 2026 harvest.
What is the farm’s capacity?
A maximum annual output of 500 tonnes — a demonstration-scale testbed, less than 1% of Korea’s 73,588-tonne salmon supply in 2025.
When will Korean land-raised salmon reach shops?
Full-scale sales are scheduled to begin at the end of 2026, with supply deals being negotiated with supermarkets, hotels and restaurants.
How does the farm reuse 99% of its water?
Through its Zero Water Concept: an advanced treatment step added to a conventional RAS removes nitrate and fine suspended solids that accumulate in rearing water.
Is the salmon antibiotic-free?
Eco Aquafarm obtained antibiotic-free certification for its Atlantic salmon in June 2026, alongside HACCP registration (September 2025) and fishery product traceability registration (March 2025).
Official links and sources
- Aqua Culture Asia Pacific — “Korean salmon farming in RAS moves toward commercialisation” (4 November 2026)
- eFeedLink — “South Korea’s first land-based salmon farm completes initial harvest in Busan” (16 October 2026, updated 5 November 2026)
- Chosun Biz — “GS E&C pilots land-based K-salmon farming, validates year-round RAS in Korea” (30 September 2026)
Images in this post are illustrations, not photographs of the Busan facility. Verify details in the linked sources before making investment or farming decisions based on this report.