Athough North Korean authorities have recently allowed fishermen to resume their activities, they are significantly restricting the issuance of “sea entrance permits,” making it difficult for them to go to sea, a source in North Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
In order to receive a sea entrance permit, fishermen must collect stamps from various military units guarding the area they plan to fish. They also need stamps from the Ministry of State Security (MSS) branch responsible for the region, including the county branch of the MSS.
Moreover, fishermen need stamps from their local Ministry of Social Security officials. All in all, they needs stamps from at least eight agencies, and each agency requires bribes to be paid.
“To go to sea, you can’t just pay one or two bribes. You need to know many powerful cadres,” the source said. “They’ve let us go to sea to fish, but because it’s so hard to get a sea entrance permit, not many people can fish.”
North Korea issues sea entrance licenses twice a year — once in the first half of the year and again in the second half. Since licenses are only good until July, fishermen who received licenses earlier this year will have to reapply for licenses again.
Daily NK reported last week that a ban on fishing in the Yellow Sea had been lifted in early May.
Captains have less authority to select their own crews
The authorities have also increased their level of vigilance toward the selection of crews for fishing boats.
The source said fishing boat crew members must be members of the Workers’ Party of Korea, and those with backgrounds in smuggling or other crimes are not allowed to join crews.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, captains used to select crew members themselves. Since the pandemic, however, crew members are selected based on candidates recommended by not just captains, but also party secretaries and fishery managers. This means that captains cannot arbitrarily choose who comes aboard their boats.
The tougher issuing procedures for sea entrance permits and crew selections appears largely aimed at preventing fishing boats from engaging in smuggling or their crews defecting.
“The government’s efforts to prevent smuggling have made it hard to get sea entrance permits, leading to gloom and doom among many fishermen. Many wonder how they’ll survive since they can’t even go to sea,” the source said.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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