Deep-sea fishing vessels must release dolphins if caught

Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Announces Legislative Notice for Amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Deep-Sea Industry Development Act

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The government is preparing measures to reduce bycatch in distant-water fisheries to strengthen the protection of marine mammals such as dolphins, sea turtles, and seabirds.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 26th that it will publicly notify the amendment to the 'Distant-water Industry Development Act Enforcement Rules' containing these details until the 7th of next month.

The amendment includes provisions that distant-water fishers must immediately release any bycaught animals such as sea turtles, seabirds, dolphins, and finless porpoises, as well as shark species prohibited from capture by regional fisheries management organizations worldwide, and report the release results. Bycatch refers to the act of catching unintended species or animals along with the targeted catch through nets or other means.

In particular, the amendment requires distant-water tuna longline or distant-water low longline fishers designated by the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries to establish separate measures to reduce bycatch of marine mammals and other species.

The amendment also includes expanding the authority to inspect seafood caught in distant-water fishing grounds or inspect vessels suspected of international Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing to employees at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries headquarters.

Once the amendment is finalized, employees of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries headquarters or affiliated fisheries management units will be able to conduct onboard investigations of suspicious vessels directly, which the Ministry expects will lead to more thorough management and supervision.

Additionally, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries included in the amendment an extension of the reporting deadline to the government when exporting seafood caught in overseas fishing grounds directly, from the existing 72 hours to 240 hours.

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