Stricter ban on illegal fishing

Revision bill should be passed to strengthen punishments

The Moon Jaein administration faces mounting calls to crack down on illegal fishing in distant waters. These calls come after the U.S. made a preliminary decision Thursday to designate South Korea as a country that engages in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

It is the second time for Korea to be subject to such a decision after the U.S. and the European Union took a similar step in 2013. Fortunately, the previous decision was lifted in 2015. Since then, the country has made efforts to avoid a recurrence, but to no avail.

This time, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) made the preliminary decision after two South Korean fishing boats were found to have engaged in illegal fishing near Antarctica in 2017. The NOAA said in a biennial report to U.S. Congress that South Korea has failed to apply sufficient sanctions to deter its vessels from fishing in violation of conservation and management manners adopted by the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).

The country might have avoided the decision if it had taken stronger action against the vessels and laid stricter legal grounds to punish violators. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries notified the two fishing boats ― Hongjin 701 and Southern Ocean ― of the closure of the fishing grounds. But they continued to operate there. Then the ministry referred the case to the law enforcement authorities for investigation. But the prosecution cleared Hongjin 701 of the criminal charges, while subjecting Southern Ocean to a suspension of indictment in 2018.

The Distant Water Fisheries Development Act calls for a maximum five years in prison or fines of up to 1 billion won ($837,000) and up to five times the value of a catch of fish. But violators have actually gone unpunished.

Thus, the country should strengthen the enforcement of the act. In July, a lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea presented a revision to the act to strictly punish violators. The National Assembly should approve the bill as soon as possible to prevent Korean fishing boats from engaging in illegal fishing in distant waters. Zero tolerance is the only solution to this issue.