In the face of tightened control in North Korea’s waters in the East Sea, more fishermen and their families have been struggling to make ends meet, the Daily NK has learned. The hardships in some cases have resulted in people taking their own lives, and officials are now finding ways to stymie further attempts, according to a local source. 

“With the start of the New Year, people from district offices in Chongjin City and inminban [people’s unit] heads are going around from door to door getting people to sign documents stating that ‘under no circumstances will anyone in this family will ever commit suicide’,” the source based in North Hamkyung Province told the Daily NK on Wednesday. 

“People in North Hamkyung Province and those who live on the east coast near the ocean have never struggled so much to get by,” he said. “This is because of State Security Department officials and coast guards blocking people from going out to fish last year during the squid and sailfin sandfish season.” 

In order to go out fishing in the East Sea, residents need to receive "ocean entrance permits" from the local unit of the State Security Department [SSD] , according to the source. However, last year, allegedly unlike any other, authorities would not issue the permits--even with substantial bribes waved in front of them. For those already in possession of permits, who should be allowed to go out fishing relatively unfettered for the duration of a year, the coast guard often refuses to recognize the permits as valid. 

Last year, after a series of North Korean fishing vessels were found adrift in South Korean waters and had to be rescued by the authorities there, the issuance of permits has been extremely limited, the source went on to explain. The move is believed to be a method to contain fishing vessels, as there was concern that such occurrences could be exacerbating the nation's already tarnished image abroad.

Most residents near coastal areas such as North Hamkyung and Gangwon Provinces rely on squid and sailfin sandfish season--which begins in June--to maintain their livelihoods. The fish are considered the main source of income intended to sustain a family for the duration of a year. 

As previously reported by Daily NK last month, conditions for North Korean fisherman have already been deteriorating due to Chinese vessels slashing people's regular catch in half--dealing a blow to the only way they have to support themselves. 

Still, the repercussions from this recent move by the state are viewed by residents as overwhelmingly more severe. “Before, even when Chinese boats would come and engage in pair trawling, during squid season [June to Oct.] people said they were able to go out at least 100 times to fish, but last year it was more like five times at the most for them,” the source explained. 

“To make money during squid season, people borrowed cash with high interest rates, or in some cases have sold their homes to buy fishing equipment [small fishing boats, engines from China of 8-12 hp, nets, and etc.], so they’re ruined,” he went on.

The source explained that some of these families are being harassed by the donju [the new affluent middle class] who have lent out money, with their homes and belongings being seized from them, which has prompted many of them to resort to extreme measures to cope with the devastation. Those who sold their homes to get ahead in the fishing season have nowhere to go, the source asserted, saying, “This is why we’re seeing dozens of suicide cases, either involving individuals or entire families, because they have no more hope."

He went on to note that people are baffled at how the state devises to resolve this solution by demanding signatures and scoff at the absurdity of the initiative. “They need to find a way to help people survive,” some have said, according to the source.

Others offer up criticism on the state propaganda that boasted a bountiful fish season for the North, saying that if that is indeed the case, it is because "they’ve been blocking people from going out, and instead allowing only fishing vessels from foreign-currency earning enterprises affiliated with the military out on the sea,” he concluded.