A Study on the Legal Status of Fishing Vessels

실정법상(實定法上) 어선(漁船)의 지위(地位)에 관한 고찰(考察)

The fishing vessels operation is a kind of maritime profit-making activities, which are complicatedly integrated by the basic and supplemental fishing activities with navigation. The Fishing Vessels Act of Korea defines the character of fishing vessels and gives a legal status to them, and this Act itself is linked with the allied public laws including the Ships Act of Korea. For this reason, the legal status of fishing vessels as Korean flagged ships by the public law is analogous to the general commercial vessels. And the specific character of ownership of the fishing vessels by the Korean Maritime-Commercial Act as a privated law is analogous to the general commercial vessels, nevertheless the Chapter 4(Carriage of goods) and the Chapter 5(General average) of this Act do not apply to the fishing vessels except the fish carriers. A fishing vessel possesses the legal status as a Korean flagged ship by having it registered and putting it on record under the provision of national law, however the principle of genuine link is an important factor for acquisition of nationality. Especially, the basic rules by the Law of the Sea those are attended with the distant-water fishing vessels operation at the overseas fishing ground are summarized as follows ; Firstly, the rights of navigation and fishing activities on the high seas are fundamentally recognized to all states, but the freedom is restricted according to the international legal order aiming at protection of reasonable interests of other states and conservation of the living resources and marine environment. Secondly, in the EEZ or EFZ the freedom of navigation is recognized, but fishing activities are exclusively ruled by the national law of the coastal state. Thirdly, foreign fishing activities are prohibited but the right of innocent passage is recognized in the territorial sea, while both activities are prohibited in the internal waters of the coastal state.