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Overview of expansion of fishing grounds around 5 West Sea islands

As of the first day of April, fishing grounds around five South Korean islands in the West (Yellow) Sea known as the “five West Sea islands” will be expanded. And whereas nighttime fishing has been banned for 55 years, since 1964, fishermen will now be allowed to start work 30 minutes before sunrise and to continue until 30 minutes after dusk, adding up to an extra hour altogether.

On Mar. 24, the city of Incheon announced that fishing grounds around the five West Sea islands (Yeonpyeong, Baengnyeong, Daecheong, Socheong and Woo) would be expanded by 245km2, or 15%, from 1,614km2 to 1,859km2 as of next month. More specifically, the Yeonpyeong fishing grounds will expand by 46.6km2 on the west and 43.7km2 on the east, while a new fishing ground covering 154.6km2 will open to the south of Baengnyeong, Daecheong and Socheong islands.

Expansion of fishing grounds and time extension for fishing operations

The expansion of the fishing grounds around the five islands was discussed by related bodies, including the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the Ministry of National Defense, the Korea Coast Guard and the city of Incheon, following the Panmunjom Declaration on Apr. 27, 2018, and then confirmed through a revision of the safe fishing regulations last month. Fishing areas and hours have been strictly regulated around these five islands, which are just south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL).

South Korean fishermen are greatly excited about having a bigger area to work in. There are currently 202 fishing vessels operating around the five islands – 92 based in Baengnyeong, 65 in Daecheong and 45 in Yeonpyeong – that catch about 4,000 tons of blue crabs, skate, shrimp and sand eels each year, bringing in 30 billion won (US$26.46 million) in revenue.

“The new fisheries are being opened thanks to improving relations between South and North Korea, and I hope that this will bring fishermen genuine benefits,” said Park Tae-won, the former head of a fishing village and the permanent director of a civic group working to establish “waters of peace” around the five islands.

By Lee Jeong-ha, Incheon correspondent

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