The North Korean authorities are earning millions of dollars each year by selling fishing rights to Chinese fishing companies, Daily NK has learned. The Chinese fishing companies working in North Korean waters are under the protection of the North Korean coast guard.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in China told Daily NK on Nov. 23 that Chinese fishing companies are leasing fishing rights from the North Korean authorities for RMB 50 million (around USD 7 million) each year so they can farm and catch fish in North Korea’s territorial waters.
The price of North Korean fishing rights depends upon the size and location of the area in question, but overall, the price is much higher than it was several years ago.
Given the high prices, individual Chinese fishermen hardly ever make contracts with North Korea. Rather, it is typically Chinese small and medium-sized fishing companies that contact North Korean seafood companies about acquiring the fishing rights.
The areas being leased to Chinese fishing companies are mostly concentrated around Ka, Taehwa and Sinmi islands, south of Cholsan Peninsula, in North Pyongan Province. Some fishing companies catch horned turbans, blue crabs and yellowtail amberjack in large quantities there, while others raise clams and jellyfish, according to the source.
“The Chinese companies with the fishing rights have highly organized operations in North Korean waters and are under the protection of the North Korean coast guard. That makes it hard for North Korean fishermen or Chinese fishing vessels without any rights to access those areas,” the source said.
The Chinese rights holders have brought in a ship large enough to house Chinese employees. This floating base of operations has reportedly deactivated its automatic identification system to keep its location a secret.
When it comes time for seafood caught in North Korean waters to be shipped to China, the floating base does not move the seafood; instead, other Chinese vessels approach for transshipment of the cargo in open waters, the source said.
The UN Security Council prohibited North Korea from exporting seafood in Resolution 2371, adopted in August 2017. When North Korea sought to dodge the ban by selling fishing rights, instead of seafood, for foreign currency, the UN Security Council moved to explicitly ban the sale of fishing rights through Resolution 2397 in December 2017.
The UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea said in an expert panel report published on Oct. 27 that it is currently looking into evidence that North Korean seafood is being sold at markets in China.
As evidence for that claim, the report included a photograph of a sign that said, in Chinese, “North Korean seafood wholesale,” and a photograph of dried pollack labeled as being from North Korea, both taken in the West Market in Yanji, in China’s Jilin Province.
The report noted that the Chinese authorities said they had confirmed that the establishment in question had put up the sign about “North Korean seafood wholesale” for several years to attract customers, but that it was actually selling seafood that had been legally imported from Russia.
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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