Cooperative calls for formal public-private council with guaranteed fishermen's input

Requests institutional support for fishermen's profit-sharing participation

Local concerns raised over safety standards for operations and navigation within wind farms

Choi Pil-jong, head of the Anchovy Drag-Net Fisheries Cooperative, hands a petition to Deputy Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Nam Jae-heon at an offshore wind energy policy forum held Friday at the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives headquarters. [National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives]
Choi Pil-jong, head of the Anchovy Drag-Net Fisheries Cooperative, hands a petition to Deputy Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Nam Jae-heon at an offshore wind energy policy forum held Friday at the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives headquarters. [National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives]

South Korea's fisheries industry has called on the government to make the protection of key fishing grounds and aquaculture farms its top priority when developing offshore wind energy projects, and to establish a system that ensures fishermen's views are genuinely reflected in policy.

The National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives held an offshore wind energy policy forum Friday at its headquarters, where it delivered a formal petition to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy.

The petition contained three core demands: that the government give top priority to protecting major fishing grounds and aquaculture farms — and to assessing the impact on fisheries — when designating preliminary project zones; that a public-private council be established with a governance structure guaranteeing fishermen's participation and ensuring their views are substantively reflected; and that institutional support be provided to promote fishermen's active participation in profit-sharing arrangements.

The petition comes as the industry seeks to protect fishermen and the fishing sector during the early rollout of regulations tied to the offshore wind special act, which took effect earlier this year, while laying the groundwork for coexistence between offshore wind development and fisheries.

The forum brought together cooperative heads from across the country, Deputy Minister Nam and officials from both the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy to discuss pressing issues related to offshore wind development.

Cooperative heads told the government that fishermen's opinions were not being adequately reflected in the operation of public-private councils for integrated development complexes. They also raised regional concerns, including the difficulty of investigating and proving fisheries damage caused by long-term offshore wind operations and the absence of safety standards for fishing and navigation within wind farm zones, and called for concrete measures to address them.

"It is urgently necessary for the government to maintain sustained attention and policy consideration so that the intent of the regulations under the offshore wind special act, which took effect earlier this year, can take root quickly in fishing communities," federation President Noh Dong-jin said. "We will faithfully convey the voices of fishermen and communicate closely with the government to build a foundation where the fishing industry and offshore wind energy can coexist."

The government said it would explain the policy direction for offshore wind development — including community participation and profit-sharing — and would review the opinions raised at the forum with a view to incorporating them into policy.


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