National Institute of Fisheries Science, Marine Biodiversity Institute seek strategies for marine bio-resource research

The National Institute of Fisheries Science and the National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea held the 2026 Joint Workshop for Marine and Fisheries Bio-Resources Management Agencies at Grand Josun Busan on Thursday, announcing Friday that they are strengthening their cooperative framework to boost research competitiveness and industrial applications of marine and fisheries bio-resources.

About 80 participants attended the workshop, including officials from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and representatives of responsible agencies and designated deposit and registration institutions for marine and fisheries bio-resources. Presentations covered three topics: the direction of AI agent-based research platform development for marine and fisheries bio-resources, strategies for utilizing those resources through synthetic biology integration, and approaches to enhancing the value of biotech intellectual property. Synthetic biology is a field of biotech manufacturing that synthesizes biological materials using only genetic information.

Participants also shared plans to improve research efficiency by linking biological resources, genetic data and research data dispersed across institutions through AI, and to translate research outcomes into industrial applications through biomaterial development and intellectual property acquisition. A subsequent session on the operational performance of deposit and registration institutions covered key achievements by each managing agency, their strategic priorities and cooperation measures to expand resource utilization.

"Applying AI and biotech manufacturing technology to marine and fisheries bio-resources is a core foundation for strengthening the competitiveness of the future marine biotech industry," said Kwon Sun-wook, director of the National Institute of Fisheries Science. "We will support the systematic conservation, management and industrial utilization of marine and fisheries bio-resources by strengthening cooperation among managing agencies."