Auction Hours in Noryangjin Fish Market
The seafood auction is closed on the Lunar New Years(Seul), Korean Thanksgiving and the First Day of the Year and Sundays. The auction hours for each type of Seafood is as below.
The auction could last for hours or even end within minutes depending on the amount of the daily enlisted seafood on the auction. In general, the auctions almost close before 05:00.
Auction Hours
Shellfish : 01:00 ~
Common Seafood(fresh dead fish) : 00:00 ~
High-end seafood(fresh dead fish) The kind of more expensive fish : 01:30~
Frozen : 03:00~
Live Fish : 3:00~
Crustaceans : 04:00~
Location of the Auction and the Wholesale Market at Noryangjin Fish Market
General consumers never encounter the wholesale market and the auction that is almost twice the size of the retail business area.
The wholesale market and auction is closed in the day time so it is a rare sight. However deep inside the A,B,E,F Area in the west wing of the Noryangjin Fish Market is the wholesale market and the auction.
Wholesale Market open hours in Noryangjin Fish Market
The wholesale market starts preparations at 23:00 and in general, most wholesale markets are prepared and ready around 02:00.
The businesses would deal seafood and participate in auctions while they would prepare the pre-ordered seafood of their vendors.
The peak time of the wholesale market is around 03:00~05:00 as the live fish auction starts at 03:00. Even the retail businesses would visit the wholesale market to check on the daily auction bid prices and whether good seafood has entered the market.
Also, retail businesses would prepare their orders to their vendors as well in the dawn before the sun rises.
Electronic Signs of the Wholesale market and the auction of Noryangjin Fish Market
The electronic signs around the wholesale market update the amount of seafood that entered the Noryangjin Fish Market in kg units.
Merchants and business owners would communicate with each other with information from the regional fishermen or regional auction merchants as well before they decide their daily auction plans, bidding prices and amount of stock.
Auction System of Noryangjin Fish Market
The Intermediate wholesalers(중도매인) are the business owners that run the wholesale business and purchase seafood to distribute to their vendors.
The Shippers are the people who’ve purchased seafood from the producers including fishermen, fish farmers and the regional wholesalers.
Shippers that purchased seafood from the producers enlist and register seafood at the auction mediated by the Suhyup(National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative).
The auctioneer leads the auction and mediate the pricing bid between the shippers and the intermediate wholesalers.
The intermediate wholesalers would want cheaper seafood while the shippers would want higher prices.
The auctioneer mediates terms between the intermediate wholesalers and the shippers while mediating the competition among the intermediate wholesalers as well.
Members of Auctioneer teams and role of auctioneers
The auctioneer team of three stages at the auction with the auction truck. The main auctioneer would lead the whole auction with a mike and check on the hand signs of the intermediate wholesalers.
The support auctioneer would monitor the prices and the amount of seafood dealt and record it on the electronic screen while drive the auction truck as well.
The appraiser would wander around the seafood enlisted for the auction bid and point on the merchandise being auctioned while checking on the quality as well for the main auctioneer.
Role of the auctioneer at the seafood auction
Shippers would want a higher price for their merchandise while intermediate wholesalers would want to bid the seafood at lower prices.
Also among the intermediate wholesalers, the share of the merchandise and the fierce competition could be a problem as well.
The auctioneer’s role is to mediate the proper price of the seafood for both the intermediate wholesalers and the shippers.
Also, the auctioneer would have to become a referee on the silent bidding war between the intermediate auctioneer and mediate competition.
Electronic Auction – Shellfish
Electronic auction is active usually for the shellfish and other sea snails that arrive at Noryangjin Fish Market with massive bulks.
The bidding of the auction isn’t volatile and the price ranges are very consistent so electronic auction is much more efficient.
Hand sign Auction – Live Fish and Fresh Seafood
However, for live fish and fresh seafood, the supply and demand differs every day and the prices are very volatile.
The supply of seafood is also very volatile so Noryangjin Fish Market once adopted the electronic auction for live fish and fresh seafood but discontinued the electronic auction as it proved to be inefficient.
Thus, the live fish and fresh seafood auction became a silent war between the intermediate wholesalers that wish to purchase seafood at a cheaper price but may be ripped off all their merchandise by other intermediate wholesalers who called a higher price.
*Only authorized intermediate auctioneers could participate in the auction. General consumers should never ever even imitate the hand signs of the auction
