National Coastal Gillnet Association Launches Emergency Squid TAC Task Force... 'Fishermen Are Furious'

The Association Criticizes "TAC Policy as a Violation of Fishermen's Basic Rights"

Nationwide Simultaneous Maritime Rally to be Held at the End of March

Members of the National Coastal Gillnet Federation pledging to protect the basic rights of fishermen through the launch ceremony of the Squid TAC Emergency Measures Committee.
(Photo by Jeong Seunghyun)

[Mokpo=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Jeong Seunghyun] The National Coastal Gillnet Association (President Park Pilsoon) held the “Squid TAC Emergency Countermeasures Committee Inauguration Ceremony (hereafter referred to as the Committee)” in Mokpo, the central city of the southwestern sea area, and launched a full-scale struggle for fishermen’s right to livelihood.

The inauguration ceremony held at 2 p.m. on the 13th at Mokpo Shinan Beach Hotel was attended by about 90 coastal gillnet vessel owners, including Park Pilsoon, president of the National Coastal Gillnet Association, Kim Jong-sik, mayor of Mokpo, Kim Won-i, member of the National Assembly, and Kim Cheong-ryong, head of Mokpo Fisheries Cooperative.

Members attending the inauguration ceremony hung banners with slogans such as “Abolish fishery policies that enact bad laws and encourage illegal activities” and “Firm opposition to the unfair and inequitable Squid TAC,” and heated up the venue with headbands tied around their heads.

The root cause of this situation is that the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries applied the Squid Total Allowable Catch (TAC) system to coastal gillnet fishing (fishing with nets on vessels over 8 tons) starting from January to restore fishery resources.

The domestic coastal squid catch was relatively abundant at 226,000 tons annually in 2000 but decreased by 77.0% to 52,000 tons in 2019. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries judged that squid resource management was urgent and decided to immediately implement the TAC system for coastal gillnet fishing, where catches had sharply increased, from January to June.

The squid catch by coastal gillnet fishing increased from 484 tons in 2018 to 2,496 tons in 2019, exceeding 5,000 tons last year. This year’s total allowable catch quota was set at 3,148 tons, including 2,648 tons allocated to each city and province and a reserve of 500 tons. Accordingly, exceeding the TAC results in administrative penalties such as fines up to 5 million won and suspension of fishing operations.

In particular, this situation has directly impacted the catch figures of coastal gillnet fishermen, leading to an emergency countermeasure committee’s firm opposition movement to protect their right to livelihood.

Leading this struggle, Park Pilsoon, president of the National Coastal Gillnet Association, who has taken the lead for fishermen’s right to livelihood, criticized, “Coastal gillnet fishermen have voluntarily set closed seasons and participated in resource management by legally establishing closed seasons for their main target species, yellow croaker. Although squid fishing grounds are also damaged by other reasons such as illegal fishing by Chinese vessels, it is unreasonable to regulate all problems by controlling the catch volume of coastal gillnet fishermen.”

The emergency committee particularly demands the complete nullification of the TAC policy implemented by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. They argue that a full survey of the number of coastal gillnet vessels mainly engaged in squid fishing (excluding bycatch) during the yellow croaker closed season and a comprehensive survey of catch volumes by industry, including sectors not subject to squid TAC (such as coastal gillnet fishing), should be conducted. They insist that all industries should participate simultaneously in the TAC system as a principle.

Meanwhile, Kim Jong-sik, mayor of Mokpo, who attended the inauguration ceremony, encouraged, “We will listen carefully to the earnest voices of the emergency committee and strive to ensure that the central government promptly reflects them in administrative measures. I hope that the struggles of the association members from across the country to protect their right to livelihood will not be in vain but will become a great foundation for the protection and development of fishermen.”

Kim Won-i, member of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party (Mokpo), who is preparing for a full revision of the Squid TAC policy through continuous exchanges with the National Coastal Gillnet Association, criticized, “The TAC policy causes confusion in individual cases, and if the setting and allocation of quotas are done on a three-year cycle, it may cause confusion among different vessels. New vessels cannot even receive quota allocations because they lack three years of background data.”

Additionally, Rep. Kim said, “It is questionable whether the policy will be effective even if a basis for application is established when the total catch volume is not objective. Therefore, as a solution to the coastal gillnet TAC issue, I will create an alternative that applies the previous system while achieving regional harmony between the East and West Seas.”

Rep. Kim also expressed his intention to promptly resolve the TAC policy issues through consultations with Seo Sam-seok, secretary of the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee, and Wi Seong-gon, a member of the same committee.

Meanwhile, starting with this inauguration ceremony, the emergency committee plans to hold a rally of the Squid TAC Emergency Countermeasures Committee under the National Coastal Gillnet Association at the National Assembly or the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries by the end of this month. Later, they pledge to hold simultaneous maritime rallies at major ports nationwide to protect the basic rights of fishermen.

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