North Korea has recently been permitting an increase in fishing operations, even as the country remains on guard against COVID-19. However, this move appears to be a temporary phenomenon due to economic difficulties rather than a permanent shift in policy.
“If [fishing companies] get the documents and figure out how large fishing boat crews are, their boats can head out [to sea],” a source inside the country told Daily NK last Thursday, adding there have been no recent policy changes regarding fishing.
“[Instead] it seems the agencies [handling fishing permits] are sticking less to the rules because times are tough,” he said.
CORRUPTION RULES THE DAY
North Korea’s fishing industry has long been rife with corruption. Fishing companies commonly violate procedures to acquire fishing permits and bribery is widespread.
The country’s worsening economic situation has only served to increase the amount of corruption in the industry, including officials taking bribes in exchange for granting approval for fishing operations.
In August, North Korea adopted the so-called “law on the prevention of violation of the order of procedure” to “rationalize” economic management and administrative procedures across society, mandating that all organizations in the country comply with procedures.
Adherence to the law, however, appears to be spotty at best.
According to Daily NK’s source, local markets are facing a downturn in business, which has led to a rising demand for fish. “Given that, people in the fishing industry are trying to catch more fish,” he said.
In fact, North Korea has actively been promoting the fishing industry for the past several years as a way to break through economic difficulties stemming from international sanctions, natural disasters and the closure of its borders.
The government has even been trying to encourage inter-province competition between fishing companies in North Hamgyong Province and South Hamgyong Province, both of which are located on the East Sea coast.
Accordingly, the recent increase in official approvals for fishing operations appears to be the result of several factors, including corruption, fishing companies’ need to produce results, and efforts to resolve the country’s dire food shortages.
The increase in fishing operations, however, is having a negligible impact on the lives of the people, the source claimed.
“If the [increase] in fishing operations leads to more seafood [in the markets], people will have more to eat and [the increase in supply] will lower [seafood] prices,” he said. “That being said, catches of fish have not been big enough yet to have an impact [on the food supply and seafood prices].”
The source also explained that North Korean fishing companies have had no issues freezing or storing seafood they have caught. This is an indicator that catches have not risen dramatically.
DEMAND FOR SEAFOOD OUTSTRIPS SUPPLY
The source further noted that demand for fish generally outstrips supply. “Because there’s no fish, people either can’t eat it or have to pay a lot for it,” he said, adding that seafood sometimes appears in state-run food shops, and at prices slightly lower than in the markets.
“However, people can’t choose what they want to buy [in the shops], and haggling isn’t possible, so consumers don’t really like [the shops],” he said.
Meanwhile, some North Koreans are reportedly renting freezer trucks to transport the fish they have caught.
The source said people transport the fish by salting it or by using freezer cars. “People usually use freezer trucks of 10 tons or more to transport the fish,” he said.
Recently, however, nobody has been fixing up personal cars to use as transport vehicles. “They are just transporting fish by renting freezer trucks that were already imported into the country,” the source said.
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