3. Enforcement program
Since enactment of the “Fisheries Act,” the Korean government has carried out a program to eliminate illegal bottom trawl fishing in its domestic waters. The program was carried out in two ways: (1) using law enforcement to eliminate illegal trawl fishing; and (2) creating other jobs for fishermen who participated in the illegal trawl fishery. However, these programs were not successful due to following reasons [15].
First, law enforcement to prevent trawling was only carried out during the spawning season, i.e., in May and October.
Second, generally the bottom trawl fishing was conducted at night or in heavy weather, making it difficult to conduct enforcement actions [16].
Third, article 94 of the “Fisheries Act” authorized forfeiture of product, nets, and vessels if illegal bottom trawl fishing had occurred over three times in five years. However, these penalties were rarely applied to the full extent. Therefore, when the fishermen received a penalty they viewed it as unlucky, but not prohibitive.
Fourth, the fishermen expected that illegal bottom trawl fishing would be permitted in the future and continued to act collectively to oppose law enforcement.
Fifth, the average daily income of legal fishing was between KRW 200–400 thousands (US$ 200–400), about 70% of illegal bottom trawl fishing. Therefore, there were economic incentives to participate in illegal bottom trawl fishing.
This situation is similar to other countries. The empirical data generated for nine countries (in Asia (China, Thailand, Vietnam), Africa (Senegal, Guinea Bissau and Guinea), and in Caribbean (Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Trinidad & Tobago)) suggest that the effective and positive influence of the Code is dampened – and often annulled – in the process of translating policy and legal frameworks into action due to socio-economic considerations, administrative inertia, faltering political will, and short-sighted leadership [7].
As the numbers of illegal bottom trawl vessels increased and the fisheries resources were depleted, the Korean government increased law enforcement actions.
On April 1, 2003, President No Moo-Hyun gave special instructions to eliminate illegal bottom trawl fishing in a meeting with the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MOMAF).1 In response, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), Ministry of Public Administration and Security (MOPAS), and MOMAF jointly established a plan to eliminate illegal bottom trawl fishing. The Korean Coast Guard (KCG) and local governments started enforcement strongly in areas of dense illegal bottom trawl fishing and monitored illegal bottom trawl fishing vessels when entering and leaving major fisheries ports.
The “Fisheries Act” authorized penalties on illegal bottom trawl fishing of a maximum of three years in prison or monetary penalties between KRW 2–20 million (US$ 2–20 thousand). However, in August, 2003, MOMAF revised the penalties to a maximum of five years of prison or monetary penalties between KRW 5–30 million (US$ 5–30 thousand). Products, nets, and vessels could also be confiscated if the owner of the illegal bottom trawl vessel received penalties more than three times in five years.
On August 10, 2004, President No Moo-Hyun gave special instructions to conduct national level enforcement to prevent illegal bottom trawl fishing. Ad-hoc teams were made in each local prosecutor offices to engage in strong enforcement. Also, to conduct the enforcement with stakeholder input, public meetings were held in the major local fisheries areas. As a result, the number of illegal bottom trawl fishing vessels decreased sharply.
4. Opposition from the bottom trawl fishing industry
The number of illegal bottom trawl fishing vessels increased to about 4500 in the early 1990s due to inadequate enforcement and easy entry into the fishery (Table 1). The average crew members onboard illegal bottom trawl fishing vessel was 3, so the total crew of illegal bottom trawl fishing industry was at least 45,000 (Table 2).
As law enforcement increased, the opposition from the illegal bottom trawl fishing industry also got stronger. First, on February 18, 1999 the Grand National Fishermen Association (GNFA) was founded by small bottom trawl fishermen. In March 2000, a total of 1870 vessels entered the GNFA and in February 2003, the member vessels of the association increased to 2198. After establishment of the GNFA, the fishermen of the illegal bottom trawl fishing industry began to oppose government law enforcement and policies through collective demonstrations and other activities. Through these demonstrations, they claimed that the bottom trawl fishing represented jobs and livelihoods for more than 50 years, so the government should support and permit bottom trawl fishing as legal. Major demonstrations and activities conducted by the fishermen in the illegal bottom trawl fishing industry included in the following [12] and [15].
When a fishing guidance vessel arrived at the site where illegal bottom trawl fishing was occurring, all of the vessels would surround the fishing guidance vessel to prevent any law enforcement actions (Fig. 2).2