Small-Scale Fishing Households in Hinterland Industrial and Commercial Areas of Fishing Ports Now Eligible to Receive Direct Payments for Fisheries Production!

- Oct. 24 – Nov. 22: Receipt of application for direct payment, registration of fishery management body required before application

 The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) announced that the amendment of the Act on the Operation of Direct Payment Program for Promoting the Public Functions of Fisheries and Fishing Villages—which will expand the eligible fishing village areas for small-scale fisheries direct payment to include regions behind fishing ports—is now in effect. It now allows fishers residing in commercial and industrial areas near fishing ports to receive direct payment benefits.

 Under the small-scale fishing direct payment scheme, the government has paid KRW 1.3 million annually to small-scale fishing businesses since 2023 to narrow the income gap between fishermen and stabilize fishing income. It is basically paid to fishermen living in fishing villages. However, the law excludes areas designated as commercial and industrial districts in the area legally designated as fishing villages; this means that people residing in the district are not eligible to receive direct payments even though they live in fishing villages. Accordingly, MOF introduced a new concept of “marine living district” that connects fishing villages and coasts to revitalize fishing villages facing a continued risk of extinction and improved the system to expand the scope of benefits for the small-scale fishing direct payment system.

 Due to this amendment, fishermen whose small-scale fishing is newly included in the direct payment scheme must apply for direct payment with documents such as copies of their resident registration card, bankbook, etc., at their local administrative welfare center from October 24 to November 22. They can minimize the number of required documents by consenting to share administrative information when applying.

 For small-scale fisheries to apply for direct payment, they must have been registered as a fishery management entity. Since it takes up to 30 days for unregistered fishermen from the time of registration to the actual registration, however, they can apply for direct payment during this application period even if they have applied but have not yet been registered as a fishery management entity.

 Meanwhile, according to this amendment of the Act, along with the application for direct payments for small-scale fisheries, additional applications for direct payments for fisheries in 2024 will also be in effect, so fishermen and fishing boat crew who missed the previous application period can also apply for direct payments.