By Kang Hyun-kyung
Living in the bull’s eye, residents of Baengnyeong Island, 191 kilometers northwest of Incheon, are striving to stave off the negative fallout from China’s maritime piracy.
These days Choi Chi-ho, a fisherman depending heavily on the West Sea for his living, had a hard time supporting his family due to a sharp income loss after Chinese fishing boats swarmed near the maritime border there.
Chinese fishermen’s illegal fishing in the waters off the island has flourished since the 1990s after a sharp decline of fishery stocks in their country’s waters due to pollution and overfishing.
Choi, 65, said he felt all fishery stocks in the West Sea were “depleted.”
The lifelong fisherman said Chinese fishermen’s “piracy” is severe especially during the summer, a peak season for fishing, causing a drastic decrease of stocks near the waters off the lower maritime border area.
Bottom trawlers, which were widely used in the 1990s, made it easy for the Chinese to collect all fish, even those species living in the bottom of the West Sea.
“My fellow fishermen here had to return home empty-handed,” he complained.
Choi said the Chinese fishermen took advantage of a regulation under which no South Korean fishermen are allowed to approach the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border, due to security concerns.
Islanders used to call the West Sea a golden fishing ground for its fertile fishery resources there. But the term holds good no longer.
Choi said his heart was “broken” after he was informed of a coastguard who was killed this week while searching an illegal fishing boat. Coastguard Lee Cheong-ho was stabbed to death by a Chinese captain during the operation.
“I feel truly sorry for his death as he faced the tragedy while trying to protect us,” Choi said.
The income decrease amid China’s piracy comes after they suffered hardships due to North Korea’s two deadly attacks last year.
In March 2010, the 1,400-ton warship Cheonan sank near the waters off the northernmost South Korean island after a North Korean torpedo attack. The incident killed 46 sailors.
Seven months later, North Korean artillery attacks devastated neighboring Yeonpyeong Island, killing four people including two civilians and damaging hundreds of homes and community facilities.
Kim Bok-nam, another fisherman living on Baengnyeong Island, is desperate to keep his life intact from the detrimental financial effect of dual challenges facing the islanders.
Kim, 52, earns a side income in the local tourism industry. After the two deadly North Korean attacks near the island, the number of tourists visiting the island sharply dropped.
Coupled with an income decrease after illegal Chinese fishing boats, the sluggish local tourism industry made it harder for him to earn a decent income.
“During the summer season, I can see up to 100 illegal Chinese fishing boats operating in the waters off my place,” said Kim. “If combined with Chinese boats operating off the other four islands near Incheon, the number would be a lot more.”
Kim said the islanders made every effort in vain to keep their income safe from Chinese maritime piracy.
“We pleaded with government officials to help us out. We asked them to play a role in preventing the Chinese from crossing the maritime border for fishing several times. All these efforts were futile,” he said.
Nothing has changed since then, leaving islanders suffering a continued income loss.