Maritime R&D

A school of bluefin tuna.
A school of bluefin tuna.

 

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will strengthen R&D support with the goal to secure 15 leading technologies by 2017.

On August 21, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries called for a meeting of the Ocean and Fisheries Future Technology Committee to discuss and confirm its R&D directions.

The development strategy is composed of four major action plans, which are the establishment of a direction for creative R&D business, strengthening R&D capabilities in the ocean and fisheries market, gathering support from the industry while pushing for the application of accomplishments, and constructing a management system focusing on the consumer and 10 major detailed action plans.

The plan is to establish a Science and Technology Incubation Law for Oceans and Fisheries by 2014 and to start an R&D Policy Department in the Ministry, in order to build the basic foundation for middle and long-term R&D developments.

The Ministry is in the process of building a Commercialization Support Center and Technology Authorization Center for Oceans and Fisheries, which will support the commercialization of R&D activities. The Ministry will also increase the support budget for short-term R&D related to job creation from the current 7 billion won (US$6.2 million) to 30 billion won (US$26.7 million) by 2015.

The Ministry aims to increase the number of world leading technologies from the current 7 to 15 by 2017, decrease the percentage of government-funded research centers, and increase the participation of universities and private research centers in oceans and fisheries R&D to 30% from the current 10%. 

“We are in the process of moving fisheries R&D activities from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries,” said an official of the Ministry. “Our budget for investment will go through examination by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning at the end of this year, at which time execution will begin,” he explained.

The budget for R&D in oceans and fisheries has jumped an average of 19.1% per year since 2006 to reach the current 518.4 billion won (US$461 million), but this is still only 3.0% of the government’s R&D budget.

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