A Study on Policies to Increase the Income of Fishing Villages Focused on Non-fishing Income

어촌 소득 증대 방안에 관한 연구 : 어업외 소득을 중심으로

The reduction of fishing grounds due to the establishment of EEZ system among China, Japan and Korea together with the depletion of fish resources by pollution of waters and successive reclamation projects along the east and the south coastal lines has made many problems in coastal communities including the decrease of population, the deepening aging phenomenon in the fishery society and the fall of relative income level compared with those of rural and urban residents. Especially, the income level of a fishing household is 90%. of a rural resident and 70% of a urban resident. The income of a fishing household consists of 55% of fishing income, 20% of a agricultural source, 20% of income from non-fishing areas, and 10% of transferred income. Compared with that of a Japanese fishing household which has more diverse income sources such as 62% of income coming from non-fishing areas through being hired in manufacturing firms, etc., that of Korean ones is highly dependent upon fishery and agriculture, so that the diversification of income sources is urgently needed, especially in non-fishing areas. This paper shows that as a model to upgrade fisherman's income level, firstly, it is necessary to enhance the value-added of fishing products through processing and new innovation of distribution process and, secondly, to promote tourism in fishing villages. To ascertain this model, a questionnaire survey to fishermen was carried out and showed that they expressed a strong support for the increase of income by the value-added process through processing and innovative distribution system and the active introduction of tourism in fishing villages. A case study on Gosan cooperative in Jeju was also introduced to identify the rationale of the suggested model and this study proved the validity of the model again. Conclusively speaking, to level up the fisherman's income requires the value- added activities through the introduction of product processing and new distribution system together with the introduction of marine tourism in fishing villages.