The European Union has removed South Korea from its preliminary list of illegal fishing countries, the Ministery of Oceans and Fisheries said Tuesday.
“The ministry will thoroughly administer to ensure that illegal fishing activities do not cause any international distrust and concern again,” said Vice Minister Kim Young-suk.
Korea was placed on a blacklist that names nations for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, or IUU, in 2013 after the EU detected Korean vessels operating illegally in West African waters, particularly those off Sierra Leone.
The EU pointed out that Korea lacked the efficient control, monitoring system and deterrent sanctions that were in place around illegal fishing. Curacao and Ghana were also put on the preliminary IUU state list for the same issues.
To stamp out illegal fishing activities, Seoul government revised its law on deep-sea fishing twice in 2013 and January this year, which included raising the maximum fine for IUU fishing to three times the value of the catch from illegal fishing, according to the ministry.
Korean fishing vessels now carry a tracking device known as a vessel monitoring system, which allows satellites to track their movements. Korean officials monitor VMS from a 24-hour monitoring center that opened in May 2014.
In February, the United States, which had included Korea on its own list of IUU countries in 2013, also delisted Korea.
Once a country is officially named an IUU state, the country’s fishery products may be barred from U.S. and European markets while their vessels are believed to be engaged in IUU fishing and may also be prohibited from making port calls in those regions.
By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)
