[2022 Budget] "Preventing Fishing Village Extinction"... Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Launches New 'Youth Fishing Boat Rental and Haenyeo Specialized Checkup' Programs

Marine and Fisheries Sector Budget Set at 6.3365 Trillion KRW
Fisheries and Fishing Villages 2.8 Trillion KRW, Shipping and Ports 2 Trillion KRW

Carbon Neutrality Budget Up 36.6% · Environmental Management Budget Including Marine Debris Reduction Up 46%
932 Billion KRW Allocated for Fukushima Contaminated Water Response

Moon Sung-hyuk, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries (file photo) [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries plans to focus investments next year on responding to the extinction of fishing villages and achieving carbon neutrality. To prevent the disappearance of fishing villages, new projects such as youth fishing vessel leasing and specialized health checkups for haenyeo (female divers) will be launched, and 28 government vessels will be built as eco-friendly ships using liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hybrid technologies to realize carbon neutrality.

On the 1st, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced that it has allocated a budget of 6.3365 trillion KRW for the marine and fisheries sector in the 2022 government budget proposal (including funds). This is an increase of 173.7 billion KRW (2.8%*) compared to the 2021 main budget of 6.1628 trillion KRW. Considering the budget scale of 165.6 billion KRW transferred to local governments under the local fiscal decentralization policy, this represents a 5.6% increase from the previous year.

By sector, the budget is allocated as follows: ▲Fisheries and fishing villages 2.8005 trillion KRW (up 4.7% from 2021) ▲Shipping and ports 2.0074 trillion KRW (down 4.9%) ▲Logistics and others 986.7 billion KRW (up 9.5%) ▲Marine environment 296.7 billion KRW (up 10.5%) ▲Research and development (R&D) 826.2 billion KRW (up 5.6%).

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries highlighted the key budget allocation directions for next year as responding to fishing village extinction and revitalizing the coastal economy, actively promoting carbon neutrality and marine debris reduction, strengthening responses to Fukushima contaminated water and marine safety, and advancing digital transformation and competitiveness in marine and fisheries sectors.

First, to address concerns about the extinction of coastal and fishing villages due to declining fishing populations and aging, the ministry will support coastal economic revitalization by expanding cultural and tourism infrastructure and port social overhead capital (SOC) by region. To this end, the budget for responding to fishing village extinction was increased by 12.9 billion KRW (2.0%) from 635 billion KRW in 2021 to 647.9 billion KRW in 2022. As a pilot project for post-fishing village New Deal implementation, a fishing village vitality promotion project (6 locations, 5.9 billion KRW) will be newly launched, and 50 new fishing village New Deal 300 projects will be selected (increasing from 250 to 300 locations) to support revitalization of fishing villages.

Additionally, to stabilize fishermen’s income and establish a sustainable fisheries foundation, support for the Fisheries Public Interest Direct Payment System will be expanded from 51.5 billion KRW to 55.9 billion KRW. Specialized health checkups (1,500 people, 400 million KRW) will be newly implemented for female fishery workers who have a high incidence of musculoskeletal disorders due to barehand and diving fishing. Furthermore, support for partial health insurance premiums for foreign fishery workers (new 2.3 billion KRW) and expansion of welfare centers will strengthen the inclusion foundation.

To encourage inflow into fishing villages, projects such as youth fishing vessel leasing (450 million KRW for 10 vessels) and 'Fishermen’s Houses' (10 locations, 150 million KRW) will be promoted to reduce burdens on returnees to fishing villages. Support for stable settlement of young entrepreneurs in the early stages will also be expanded from 200 to 220 people and from 1.6 billion KRW to 1.7 billion KRW to support youth inflow and job creation in fishing villages.

The budget for coastal economic revitalization will also increase by 101.2 billion KRW (5.6%) from 1.8105 trillion KRW this year to 1.9117 trillion KRW next year. Through this, investments will be expanded to build regionally tailored tourism infrastructure such as marine leisure tourism hubs and marine healing centers, and port infrastructure expansion and smart port construction will continue to respond to global logistics trends such as vessel upsizing and port automation.

The ministry will actively promote carbon neutrality and marine debris reduction in the marine and fisheries sector to create a sustainable and healthy marine environment. The budget for carbon neutrality realization will increase by 122.3 billion KRW (36.6%) from 333.9 billion KRW this year to 456.2 billion KRW next year. Twenty-eight government vessels will be built as eco-friendly ships using LNG and hybrid technologies (206.5 billion KRW) to spread green ships, and a new tidal flat vegetation afforestation project (2 locations, 1.5 billion KRW) will be launched to create salt-tolerant plant communities in tidal flats. Additionally, coastal carbon sinks will be expanded through projects such as sea forest creation (30 billion KRW).

The budget for marine environment management to actively reduce marine debris, which is identified as a major cause of marine pollution and maritime accidents, will increase by 61.7 billion KRW (45.9%) from 134.6 billion KRW in 2021 to 196.4 billion KRW in 2022. Marine debris management, which was previously focused on collection and disposal, will be systematically reduced through full-cycle management from prevention to collection, disposal, technology development, and infrastructure expansion.

Safety investments in the marine and fisheries sector will also be strengthened in response to Japan’s decision to discharge Fukushima nuclear power plant contaminated water and safety accidents involving port workers. The budget for Fukushima contaminated water response is set at 93.2 billion KRW, an increase of 10.5 million KRW from this year. To strengthen monitoring of contaminated water inflow into domestic waters, survey points in major sea areas will be expanded, and radiation inspection equipment support (10 locations) will be provided at major fish auction sites, the main gateways for fishery products distribution. A new radiation inspection system based on public petitions will also be introduced to enhance radiation inspection of fishery products (new 3.3 billion KRW).

Minister Moon Sung-hyuk of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said, "We plan to expand support to revitalize coastal and fishing village areas that are struggling due to the rapid decline in fishing village populations and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and to focus investments on digital transformation and new growth engines in marine and fisheries sectors. As the global interest in responding to the climate crisis grows, next year we will actively promote carbon neutrality and zero waste in our marine areas to create clean and pleasant seas that the public can truly feel."