Targeting 410,000 Return-to-Fishing-Village Residents by 2027... Lowering Entry Barriers

Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, 2nd Comprehensive Plan for Returning to Fishing and Rural Areas

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The government announced that it aims to achieve 410,000 people settling in fishing villages and 7,500 people entering the fishing industry by 2027. "Gwiyeochon" refers to the population settled in fishing villages, and "Gwiyeoin" refers to those engaged in the fishing industry.

On the 17th, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced the "2nd Comprehensive Support Plan for Gwiyeo and Gwichon" containing these details.

The Ministry plans to first expand the population related to fishing villages to increase the potential demand for Gwiyeo and Gwichon. The related population is a concept between resident population and exchange population, referring to people who have not fully settled in a specific area but maintain continuous relations by frequently visiting, such as tourists, thereby contributing to regional vitality.

The Ministry will help citizens experience fishing village life through programs such as "Living in a Fishing Village," the "4 Cities (Do) 3 Villages (Chon)" program, and establishing 20 locations for "Okeisyeon" (Fishing Village + Workation). For elementary, middle, and high school students, it will introduce fishing village study programs and problem-solving classes related to fishing villages linked to university curricula to improve the perception of fishing villages among youth and students.

Additionally, the Ministry plans to create a fishing village asset investment fund that can invest in assets such as fishing boats, aquaculture farms, and idle land, and introduce fishing village-type crowdfunding to revitalize private investment in fishing villages.

In fishing village experience and recreation villages, marine leisure programs preferred by young people, such as yachting and skin diving, as well as programs like beach yoga and beach jogging, will be established to support youth employment in fishing villages. Local creators in fishing villages, such as Yangyang Surf Beach, will be nurtured, and settlement funds, which were previously limited to the fisheries sector, will be expanded to fields such as tourism and information and communication technology (IT) to activate fishing village startups.

In the long term, public institutions plan to lower the entry barriers for Gwiyeoin by purchasing fishing boats and leasing them. For aquaculture farms, which require large initial investments, related laws will be revised so that public institutions can lease them and sublease to Gwiyeoin and others, and a system will be established to allow transactions of land-based aquaculture farms between existing fishermen and Gwiyeoin.

Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, Seunghwan Cho, said, "We will strive to resolve entry barriers to Gwiyeo by reflecting voices from the field and including various policies for those settling in rural areas."

On the 4th, the Gijang-gun Seaweed Breeding Convergence Research Center distributed 1,000 seaweed seedlings produced in-house to nine fishing villages.