A domestic team has developed a technology that enables fish to survive without water for a day.

The Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute says a research team led by Dr. Kim Wan-soo has successfully induced hibernation in flatfish by manipulating their biorhythms, depriving them of water for 24 hours before returning them to their original state.

Earlier this month, researchers placed 20 flatfish from Jeju Island into a refrigerated container, transporting them by air to distributors in the U.S. cities of Los Angeles and San Diego. Sixteen of the two-kilogram fish survived the artificial hibernation induction process.

The process reduces the surrounding temperature of the fish to decrease their metabolism until they enter a state of hibernation.