Assemblyman Seo Samsuk, Up to 13 Days at Sea per Trip... Extreme Job of the 'Eogyumangidan'

Only 40 Fisheries Patrol Vessels Manage an Area 5 Times Larger Than Land

Each Vessel Deploys Up to 180 Days Annually... Some Missions Take as Long as 13 Days

Seosamseok, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker (Yeongam, Muan, Sinan, Jeollanam-do) / ⓒ Asia Economy

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seo Young-seo] There are people who manage a maritime area of 436,000㎢, five times the land area of our country, with only 40 vessels and wrestle with more than 10 Chinese fishing boats every month, drawing attention.

On the 8th, Seo Sam-seok, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (Yeongam, Muan, Sinan), raised the urgency of improving working conditions for the Fisheries Management Unit based on the '2020 Fisheries Management Unit Work Status' data submitted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

The Fisheries Management Unit is an institution under the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries that carries out activities to establish fisheries order through fisheries dispute mediation and maritime support activities. It is entrusted with a huge mission to protect our maritime sovereignty amid the decline of fishery resources and catch volume due to illegal fishing by Chinese fishing boats and others.

However, the working conditions are nothing short of extreme. The Fisheries Management Unit has a total of 40 national fisheries patrol vessels, but the actual deployment of fisheries patrol vessels managing the entire maritime area is only 14 to 18 vessels. Usually, 22 to 26 vessels are either on standby or under repair.

The jurisdictional maritime areas of the East Sea Fisheries Management Unit, West Sea Fisheries Management Unit, and South Sea Fisheries Management Unit are 174,000㎢, 136,000㎢, and 126,000㎢ respectively.

Due to the shortage of vessels and the vast jurisdictional maritime areas, deployments are frequent. One vessel must go out 150 to 180 days a year, and each deployment takes 7 to 13 days. In the case of the East Sea Fisheries Management Unit, the distance to the northern end of the management area reaches 704 km, and travel time alone takes up to 38 hours.

Member Seo Sam-seok proposed “operating additional intermediate points or strategic bases between the East Sea, West Sea, and South Sea management units to alleviate the poor working conditions of the Fisheries Management Unit.”

He explained, “This has the effect of increasing the number of patrol vessels by protecting fishery resources through concentrated crackdowns on Chinese fishing boats and others, reducing patrol vessel travel time, and strengthening nearby land management.” He also predicted, “Flexible deployment of patrol vessels using intermediate bases will increase the possibility of blocking juvenile fish for aquaculture feed, which circulates about 400,000 tons annually, at the stage of entering ports and harbors on the southern and western coasts, and will increase fiscal revenue through crackdowns on illegal fishing vessels.”

Finally, Member Seo Sam-seok emphasized, “The current system has many loopholes in maintaining the situation and preventing recurrence in cases such as the recent disappearance of crew members.” He stressed, “We must strengthen work rules, devise artificial intelligence devices to prevent crew desertion, and increase the number of personnel and patrol vessels so that the Fisheries Management Unit can do its best to protect maritime sovereignty.”

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