Jeonnam Province Hosts '2020 Jeonnam Gui-eo Small Expo'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Jeonnam Province announced on the 11th that it will hold the "3rd Jeonnam Return-to-Fishing Small Expo," an online event for urban residents wishing to return to fishing, from the 12th to the 23rd.

This expo is organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Jeonnam Return-to-Fishing and Return-to-Village Support Center, and the Jeonnam Regional Headquarters of the Fisheries Cooperative.

Due to COVID-19 making large gatherings difficult, urban residents hoping to return to fishing can experience various fishing villages in Jeonnam through videos, and conduct interviews with fishing village chiefs and outstanding returnees via phone or online in an ontact format.

To facilitate this, the province has launched a Small Expo website. The website provides videos introducing the status of 24 fishing village cooperatives in 9 cities and counties including Yeosu, Boseong, Yeonggwang, Haenam, Gangjin, Wando, Goheung, Hampyeong, and Jindo, as well as residents’ willingness to attract returnees, local specialties, and vacant houses. It also introduces return-to-fishing and return-to-village support policies by city and county.

Participants in the expo can receive mobile beverage coupons by consulting with outstanding returnees, return-to-fishing and return-to-village experts, and fishing village chiefs, and by completing a survey.

The Jeonnam Return-to-Fishing and Return-to-Village Support Center plans to recruit participants for the "Urban Residents Become Jeonnam Fishermen" program, which allows participants to stay in Jeonnam fishing villages for a month and gain hands-on experience.

Since June, the center has confirmed the willingness of Jeonnam fishing villages to participate and produced videos of successful returnees to conduct the expo in an ontact format.

Additionally, invitation messages were sent to about 900 urban residents hoping to return to fishing or villages in major cities nationwide including Seoul, Gyeonggi, Busan, Daegu, and Daejeon, and promotions were carried out using online, mobile, and SNS channels.

The province held the 1st Return-to-Fishing Small Expo in Jangheung in 2018 and the 2nd in Mokpo in 2019. Through these events, more than 150 urban residents wishing to return to fishing have visited fishing village cooperatives in Jeonnam annually to prepare for their return. To date, about 20 urban residents have successfully returned to fishing and villages through the Small Expo.

Wi Gwanghwan, Director of the Jeonnam Provincial Department of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "With the fishing villages in Jeonnam being newly transformed through projects like the Fishing Village New Deal and the significant lowering of barriers in fishing village cooperatives, we hope urban residents wishing to return to fishing and villages will take on a new chapter of life in Jeonnam’s fishing villages. We expect this expo to be an opportunity to revitalize Jeonnam’s fishing villages."

Meanwhile, last year, Jeonnam recorded 358 households and 487 people returning to fishing, the highest number of urban residents returning to fishing nationwide. Compared to 2018, this is an increase of 36 households and 38 people, showing a continuous upward trend in the number of households and people returning to fishing since 2017.

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