Cancelation of mountain trout festival leaves S. Korea pondering how to deal with 95 tons of fish

The annual Hwacheon SancheoneoIce Festival, a popular winter event where 1,000,000 people try to catch mountain trout bare-hand or ice fishing, has been canceled due to COVID-19.

The event is hosted by the Gangwon Province county of Hwacheon.

Consequently, South Korea would have to deal with large stocks of mountain trout for the second consecutive year.

There are around 316,000 mountain trout, each weighing 300 grams, being grown in the country.

Out of the 95 tons of mountain trout now available, the county plans to can 50 tons, and use the rest to make fish cakes, sauce, meal kits, and others products.

The trout may also be sold to hotels and department stores.

Last year, the county struggled to deal with 77 tons of mountain trout following the cancellation of the mountain trout festival.

When unseasonably hot weather kept the festival from attracting enough visitors, the county had to use the trout stock to make fertilizer and fish cakes.

The county invited famous hotel chefs in the country to hold cooking shows that made mountain trout pizza, cream soup, bouillabaisse, gambas al ajillo, bruschetta, and other exotic cuisines.

It ended up using 66 tons of mountain trout to make processed food, all of which sold out in only three days.

The county plans to develop various mountain trout food products using and exporting some to Southeast Asian countries.