 North Korean fishing vessel in Sinuiju | |
| General characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Coastline | 2,495 km |
| EEZ area | unknown |
| Land area | 120,408 km2[1] |
| MPA area | 3.6 km2[2] |
| Fishing fleet | unknown |
| Export value | US$300 million (2017 est.) |
| Harvest | |
| Wild total | 200,000 tons |
| Aquaculture total | 63,700 tons |
| Overall total | 263,700 tons |
The fishing industry in North Korea provides an important supplement to the diet and for export. The catch in 2001 totaled 200,000 tons of wild-caught seafood and 63,700 tons produced using aquaculture.[3] The major fishing grounds are in the coastal areas of the Sea of Japan to the east and the Yellow Sea to the west. The main fishery ports are Sinpo, Kimchaek, and the nearby deep-sea fishery bases of Yanghwa and Hongwfin. The principal catch from the Sea of Japan is pollock.[4]
Fishing targets in seven-year plans were met until 1993, after which there was a shortage. Present catches are unknown, as is the size of the fishing fleet. Fishing is conducted under military supervision to prevent defections. Military service also affects both men and women. Conscripted men can acquire fishing skills while women are left to work in fish processing plants in their place. North Korea sells fishing quotas in its own EEZ through agents in China. This has forced North Korean fishers to poach in Chinese and Russian waters, where they are ill-equipped to sail. The situation has resulted in numerous shipwrecks, particularly in the Japanese archipelago where "ghost ships" with their dead crew has washed ashore.
- ^ The World Factbook 2020.
- ^ Atlas of Marine Protection n.d.
- ^ Kang 2008, p. 151.
- ^ Chung 1994, pp. 143–144.