- Both came to an agreement to crack down on illicit fishing practices at 2021 working-level meeting. -

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF; Minister MOON, Seong-Hyeok) has announced its commitment to greater cooperation with China in maintaining well-managed fishing practices and curbing illegal fishing, after “2021 Korea-China working-level meeting on fishing guidance and crackdown”.
Beginning on June 8, 2021, the 3-day meeting was virtually held due to the COVID-19 with the delegations consisting of the MOF, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Korea Coast Guard (KCG), Fisheries Management Service and Korea Fisheries Association for Korea; and China Coast Guard Bureau (CCGB), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China Fisheries Association for China. The delegations were headed by Director Lim, Tae-ho of Guidance and Negotiation Division of the MOF and Director Lee, Chun-lin of Law Enforcement Department of the CCGB, respectively.

Fisheries authorities from both countries exchanged ideas to promote their concerted efforts to cooperation in maintaining well-managed fishing practices and curbing illegal fishing; the plan the crack down on chinese fishing vessels going south after fishing in the North Korean water in the East Sea and crack down illegally fishing chinese vessels in the water near the NLL* in the Yellow Sea.

* Northern Limit Line

An issue of Chinese vessels for squid catch in the East Sea, which is believed to engage in illegal fishing, became successfully settled at the meeting. Both entities agreed to share the information on suspected rule-breaking vessels of China sailing down from the North Korean waters after their squid fishery. Under the agreement, Chinese authorities will be determined to crack down on its vessels from the second half of this year, after verifying the information(vessel’s track, etc.) on the vessels’ regulatory violation provided by Korea.

The Yellow Sea, western part of the Korean Peninsula, is another target for the bilateral intervention. Chinese fishing vessels, involved in serious infringement such as violating the Northern Limit Line, the de facto inter-Korean maritime border, will initially be subject to punishment by Korean patrol ships and KCG; and then be handed over to the Chinese authorities to face further penalties in accordance with their own law.

Both delegations put joint rounds of inspections on the table at the meeting. As a result, “Joint inspections in the provisional action zone in the Yellow Sea”, a classic case of the bilateral cooperation in patrolling and monitoring the waters, will expectedly be carried out in October this year conducted by each country’s coast guard; and in April, 2022 by the West Sea Fisheries Management Service (for Korea) and CCG (for China). Details for the patrol including its period and coverage will be determined later via diplomatic channels or relevant authorities’ communication.

Other issues influencing both countries’ fishery were also discussed such as resuming the scheme of cross-boarding fish wardens; a pilot project of conserving GPS data on vessel’s track; Chinese vessels’ fishing activity in the provisional action zone during the Chinese fishery resting period (in summer; May 1st to September 1st); and expanding the test operation of checkpoint system for fish carriers & a illegal fishing vessels’ information database system.
Director Lim, Tae-ho stated that “The bilateral meeting has served as a venue since 2005 to boost the cooperation for maintaining well-managed fishing practices in the waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula. Living up to the reputation of the event, both entities have reached an agreement this year to crack down on illicit squid-fishing by Chinese vessels persisting in the East Sea. With no room for complacency, we will continue to strengthen the cooperation with the Chinese government to stamp out illegal fishing.”