reportedly requested a fee decrease of 20-30 percent 

 because tlie ROK squid market was depressed. ''' In 

 response to the depressed market, the ROK squid 

 industry reportedly reduced the total number of jiggers 

 deployed in the Falklands from 67 to 65 vessels, and 

 reduced the number of trawlers from 44 to 40 vessels. 

 The fishing seasons would also be shortened for jiggers 

 from 7 months (December to June) to 4 months 

 (February to June), and for trawlers from all year to 6 

 months (July to January). '*" 



Peru: The ROK fisheries industry has recently 

 shown great interest in Peruvian fisheries. Tlie fishery 

 ministers of the ROK and Peru pledged in March 1993 

 to strengthen fisheries cooperation between the two 

 countries. Tlie ROK requested increased access to 

 Peruvian waters and an installment plan for payment of 

 access fees. Peru reportedly promised to consider 

 these requests in a positive mamier. The ROK also 

 requested permission for ROK trawler fishing in 

 previously unexploited Peruvian fisheries and the 

 formation of joint ventures in fisheries processing and 

 shipbuilding.''' 



ROK squid jiggers have been actively fishing in 

 Peruvian waters since 1 99 1 . The Peruvian Government 

 allocated a squid quota of 80,000 t in late 1991 to two 

 Peruvian-ROK joint ventures, Peruko (30,000 t) and 

 Pescapeko (50,000 t), which operated a total of 31 

 trawlers in Peruvian waters." In mid- 1992, the 

 Peruvian Government accepted public bids for squid 

 allocations. A total of 20 ROK jiggers were granted an 

 allocanon of 45,000 t for a fee of $185 per ton. This 

 fee was more than double the $80 per ton fee which 

 ROK jiggers paid in 1991. Tlie two joint venture 

 companies which reportedly bid for this allocation were 

 Peruko (25,000 t) and Royal Prestige (20,000 t). The 

 ROK Government is reportedly negotiating with Peru 

 to determine terms of access for ROK squid trawlers 

 and to explore the possibility of a bilateral fisheries 

 agreement.*' The Japanese fisheries press reports that 

 29 ROK squid jiggers received an allocation of 52,678 

 tons from Peru in 1993." 



Suriname: Most ROK shrimp trawlers operate 

 under the joint venture company, Suriname American 

 Industries Limited (SAIL), a Suriname Govenunent- 

 owned, but independently managed fishing company. 

 SAIL has exclusive contracts with several ROK fishing 

 companies which operate 70 ROK shrimp trawlers. 

 SAIL pays market prices for the shrimp landed by 



ROK trawlers and exports it mostly to Japan; some is 

 exported to France. The number of ROK shrimp 

 trawlers licensed to fish in Suriname has remained 

 fairly constant, ranging from 85 vessels in 1987 to 89 

 vessels in 1992. ROK vessels caught an estimated 

 3,500 t of shrimp in Suriname during 1991 ;■■ the 1992 

 catch is not available. 



G. North America 



United States: Until the late 1980s, die ROK 

 received annual allocations of groundfish (mostly 

 Alaska pollock) in U.S. waters off Alaska. Due to the 

 "Americanization" of the U.S. 200-mile zone, such 

 allocations are now unavailable to ROK fishennen. 

 The ROK was the first country to establish fishery joint 

 ventures with the United States. These joint ventures 

 involved the "over-the-side" purcha.se of pollock and 

 other groundfish caught by U.S. fishermen and 

 delivered to ROK factory trawlers. With the rapid 

 increase of U.S. processing capacity, such joint 

 ventures have been phased out. The United States and 

 the ROK have a bilateral "Governing International 

 Fishery Agreement." which expires December 31, 

 1993. 



VII. Outlook 



The long-range outlook for ROK distant-water 

 fisheries is not a bright one. Increased restrictions on 

 access to foreign and international waters, rising fishing 

 fees, increased labor costs, decreasing conmiodity 

 prices, labor shortages, obsolete fishing vessels, and a 

 liberalized fisheries market have all played a role in 

 making distant-water operations increasingly 

 unprofitable. Financial difficulties for Samho Moolsan, 

 one of the ROK's leading distant-water fishery 

 companies, have resulted in bankruptcy and court 

 management of the company. An additional 30-50 

 small ROK fishery companies have gone bankrupt since 

 the late 1980s. The ROK fisheries industry has 

 requested $125 million in Government assistance, and 

 the Government has agreed to provide $25 million from 

 a special emergency account. The fisheries industry 

 has also requested permission to hire cheap labor from 

 Southeast Asia and ethnic Koreans from China, but it 

 is doubtful that even these measures will be able to 

 stem the seemingly inevitable swing away from distant- 

 water fisheries."" 



97 



