Gyeonggi Province Conducts Special Crackdown on Illegal Fishing in Gyeonggi Bay...Focused on Early Morning and Weekends

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hoon] Gyeonggi Province announced on the 19th that it is conducting intensive special crackdowns on illegal fishing activities during early morning and weekend hours to return clean Gyeonggi Bay to its residents.

The province began special crackdowns on illegal fishing activities such as catching juvenile fish on June 29 as part of Governor Lee Jae-myung's initiative to create "clean Gyeonggi Bay," conducting inspections over 26 occasions and detecting a total of 4 cases by July 15. The crackdown will continue until August 20.

The areas targeted for special crackdown are five coastal cities and counties—Ansan, Hwaseong, Siheung, Gimpo, and Pyeongtaek—being promoted primarily during early morning and weekend hours in cooperation with the Civil Special Judicial Police Unit and city and county authorities. Additionally, fishing guidance vessels are regularly stationed in waters such as Gukhwa Island, which borders Chungcheongnam Province, and intensive crackdowns are being conducted against moored fishing vessels at major ports and harbors.

Early morning and weekends are known to be high-risk times for illegal activities. Illegal fishing flourishes on public holidays when civil servants are absent, and considering the nature of fishing in which nets are set the day before and fish are caught early in the morning, crackdowns before sunrise are necessary.

Key crackdown targets include ▲catching juvenile fish in violation of catch size and prohibited size regulations ▲unauthorized fishing activities ▲fishing operations that infringe on provincial boundaries ▲manufacturing illegal fishing equipment such as triple-wall nets (equipment made of three sheets of nets with different thread thicknesses and mesh sizes that catch even fry) and possessing or selling illegally caught fish ▲and other related activities.

When illegal fishing is detected, violators face "imprisonment of up to 3 years or fines of up to 30 million won" in accordance with fishery-related laws and regulations, and are also subject to administrative penalties such as cancellation of fishing licenses and suspension of fishing rights.

The province is giving advance notice of the special crackdown to fishers and organizations within the province by the 28th, and is widely publicizing the crackdown plan by posting banners around ports and harbors to prevent illegal fishing.

Lee Sang-woo, Director of the Marine and Fisheries Division of Gyeonggi Province, said, "By conducting intensive crackdowns during vulnerable hours for illegal fishing—early morning and weekends—we will establish an opportunity to create a fair fishing order so that law-abiding fishers are not disadvantaged."

The province plans to continue conducting crackdowns in the second half of the year timed with the fish growth season.