- Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announces its Fishing Village New Vitality Promotion Project -

 The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (Minister CHO, Seung-Hwan) drafted its Fishing Village New Vitality Promotion Project to revive fishing villages that face the risk of disappearance and presented it during the Ministerial Meeting on Pending State Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, on 23 September.

 Fishing villages are special spatial locations that mark the starting points of Korean territory, that serve various public functions, such as the protection of ocean territory, production of fisheries products, and the passing down of traditional culture. However, these fishing villages face the imminent danger of disappearance, where the fishing household population decreased by 61.4% since 2000 (251,000 in 2000 → 97,000 in 2020), and where 87% of the 491 fishing villages are to become high-risk areas of disappearance by 2045.

 The government has implemented the Fishing Village New Deal 300 Project since 2019 to modernize previously neglected fishing villages and ports and has delivered improvements in maritime traffic and residential conditions. Yet it is still necessary to move beyond the foundational support for the fishing sector and to improve living conditions, including medical, welfare, and culture, and to create new jobs to revitalize fishing villages to fully respond to the risk of their disappearance.

 In response, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has drafted the Fishing Village New Vitality Promotion Project, with the aim of creating 36,000 new jobs, improving living conditions to match those of cities, and increasing the resident population by 2 million through 2030. The Project will be investing KRW 3 trillion in a total of 300 fishing villages over the next 5 years. To systemically support the fishing villages depending on their size and characteristics, the project will be implemented in three categories: ① Creating an economic platform for fishing villages, ② Creating a living platform for fishing villages, and ③ Improving the safety infrastructure of fishing villages.

1. Economic platform for fishing villages: develop fisheries-based regions into fishing village economic bases

 The government plans to provide financial support while attracting private investments in fishery-based locations, such as national fishing ports, to foster 25 dynamic ‘fishing village economic hubs’ that play central roles in the economy and everyday life of fishing villages.

 To this end, the government plans to select 5 locations each year until 2027 and provide total financing of KRW 750 billion (KRW 30 billion for each location) to create the basic facilities, including marine product commercialization centers and water-friendly facilities, as well as attract private investments in high valued-added multi-purpose facilities by considering the characteristics of each location, including marine product distribution and processing centers or marine tourism complexes. In particular, the government plans to deregulate to simplify the private investment process and widen the scope allowed for such investments. The government also plans to increase the financial support, by launching and managing the ‘Fishing Village & Port Vitalization Fund’ (to be named), to drive interest from the private sector.

 In addition, the ‘fishing village economic hubs’ will be provided with everyday life services by creating multi-purpose everyday facilities that combine for-profit facilities such as supermarkets and welfare facilities that provide care, health management, and everyday necessities. These everyday life services will also cover fishing villages that are within nearby living zones. Furthermore, these facilities are to be managed by the fishing community, where the profits can be reinvested into the everyday life services of local residents.

2. Fishing Village Life Platform: building fishing villages that enable lifestyles without having to go out to the cities

 The government plans to create 175 ‘self-sustaining fishing villages’ by improving the residential and economic conditions of the fishing villages, allowing residents to sustain their lifestyles without having to go out to the cities.

 The government plans to select 35 locations each year among medium-sized fishing ports and their surrounding areas, including regional fishing ports or fishing ports for new settlers, and invest a total of KRW 1.75 trillion (KRW 10 billion for each location). This will help to identify new income sources, support the diversification of income types, and lay the foundation for residential facilities and space for everyday life services.

 Seafood manufacturing and processing facilities will be constructed in fishing villages that can create added-value products, such as ready-made meals, while providing professional consulting support to develop new products and pioneer distribution channels that can become new income sources for the villages. In addition, regions that introduce the ‘fishing village pension’ program, a self-managed pension system that pays out pension allowances by forming pension funds in each fishing village community, will be prioritized in the project to identify the new income sources, in order to strengthen the income safety nets of fishing villages.

 In addition, residential support such as the remodeling of empty houses or creation of small-scale public housing will be rolled out to alleviate the residential burden of the returning young fishing population, and community programs to promote the integration of new and old residents will assist with the stable settlement of returning residents. The support for every life services will also be increased, such as a program to prevent diseases of the fishing population and the installation of unmanned automated sales facilities.

 In particular, external private sector experts will remain for the duration of the project involving ‘self-sustainable fishing villages,’ working together with residents to create improvement programs that can help create economic activities and the supporting framework for everyday life services that fit each region.

3. Improving the safety infrastructure of fishing villages: expanding the safety facilities necessary for small-scale fishing villages

 Lastly, the living and safety facilities that thwart threats to the safety of the residents will be improved to match minimum safety requirements in 100 small-scale fishing villages. A total of KRW 500 billion will be invested to 20 locations each year to revamp the disaster safety facilities and the fishing sector foundation, while expanding transportation convenience facilities.

 In consideration of the effects of climate change, disaster safety facilities, such as facilities to prevent wave impacts from typhoons and tsunamis, and old fishing base facilities, such as storage warehouses for fishing gear, will be improved. The living environment will also be improved, by tearing down abandoned houses, fixing slate roofs, and creating joint collection facilities for marine waste.

 Furthermore, berthing facilities for passenger boats, such as docks and breakwaters, will be increased while improving the necessary passenger convenience facilities, including waiting rooms, ticket offices, and toilets, to ensure safe and convenient marine transportation to local residents and the Korean population.

 Besides the three project categories, the Korean government plans to create smart fishing villages based on the demand and necessity associated with each region and carry out the fishing village culture conservation program in parallel.

 The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will start its submission process for project location applications at all regional government offices from 26 Sep for the selection of 60 locations* for the new project in 2023. After distributing the guidelines for the open competition and through assessment by the review committee, the final candidate project locations will be announced next January.

*Total 60 locations: (Type 1) 5 locations, (Type 2) 35 locations, (Type 3) 20 locations

 Minister Cho Seung-Hwan of the Oceans and Fisheries explained, “the Fishing Village New Deal 300 Project, implemented to date, has improved the old infrastructure of fishing villages and ports to a certain level.” He continued, “we plan to take a step further and focus on the revitalization of fishing villages and the improvement in the lives of the people. We will seamlessly carry out the ‘Fishing Village New Vitality Promotion Project’ to instill new life into the fishing village economy, and to realize the goal of ‘prosperous fishing villages’.”

Reference: aerial view for each category