Seoul has temporarily banned the catching of the wild pollack, or myeongtae ,... as the nation's favourite fish faces extinction in local waters.
The fisheries ministry said the law takes effect on Monday,... restricting the fishing of the species until the end of the year.
The number of wild pollack in Korean seas has fallen dramatically over the past two decades,... due to rising sea temperatures which have caused migration to cooler waters.
Around 10-thousand tons of the fish were caught every year up to 1991,... but the annual average has dropped to less than a ton since the late 2000s.
The fishing ban will be lifted once authorities decide fish stocks have recovered.