Preventing Illegal Fishing by Distant-Water Vessels through EEZ Coordinate Updates and Special Port State Control Searches

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 15th that it will update the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) coordinates and implement practical measures such as conducting port state inspections on domestic distant-water fishing vessels to fundamentally prevent illegal fishing by South Korean distant-water fishing vessels operating in the high seas.

South Korea was designated as a preliminary IUU fishing country by the United States in September last year, but due to the government's proactive response, including the introduction of a penalty system for illegal fishing, the designation was lifted early within four months.

An official from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries explained, "Interest in our government's distant-water fisheries management methods is increasing among NGOs as well as the United States and Europe. Thorough preventive management against illegal fishing caused by habitual or careless actions is necessary. Following institutional improvements to prevent illegal fishing by South Korean distant-water fishing vessels, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has additionally prepared practical implementation plans."

Although the official EEZ lines of coastal states are deposited with the UN by the respective countries, most shipping companies have conventionally used unofficial EEZ lines provided by private companies. There were limitations in confirming whether the shipping companies were aware in advance when crossing official EEZ lines. To prevent such confusion, the Ministry plans to update the EEZ coordinates to those registered with the UN by coastal states and internationally standardized coordinates and distribute them to shipping companies by the end of this month. For coastal states such as the Solomon Islands and Polynesia, where only base points have been announced, the Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Agency will survey the EEZ lines and provide the results to shipping companies. However, since these provided EEZ lines are not official standards, shipping companies are advised to operate conservatively with a margin when conducting fishing activities.

Port state inspections, conducted to block IUU-suspected vessels from bringing illegal catches into domestic ports, are principally carried out only on foreign-flagged vessels except in special cases, according to the FAO Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) and the Distant-water Fisheries Development Act. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries plans to conduct port state inspections on domestic distant-water fishing vessels entering South Korean ports based on relevant provisions within the Distant-water Fisheries Development Act to strengthen checks on whether South Korean distant-water fishing vessels operating in international fisheries waters have illegally caught prohibited species such as whales and sharks. Initially, special port state inspections will be conducted in July on 12 domestic squid jigging vessels entering Busan, with plans to gradually expand inspections to all domestic distant-water fishing vessels in the long term.

For distant-water fishing vessels where observer boarding is difficult, an electronic monitoring system will be introduced to monitor illegal fishing. CCTV will be installed on vessels to record scenes of gear deployment and retrieval as well as catch operations. The recorded footage will be obtained after fishing operations for review and analysis. Additionally, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will actively support the domestic distant-water fishing industry in obtaining Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification in cooperation with the industry and NGOs. Initially, certification will be pursued for one tuna purse seine company with high export volumes by the end of the year.

Woo Dong-sik, Director of International Distant-water Policy at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, stated, "For our distant-water fisheries to secure competitiveness with the trust of the international community, voluntary improvement efforts by the distant-water industry and active cooperation with government policies are necessary. The government will continue to strengthen prevention and supervision of IUU fishing going forward."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.