Jeollanam-do kept the largest golden fishing ground on the southern coast. The Constitutional Court of Jeollanam-do gave its hand to Jeollanam-do after 10 years after the conflict between Jeonnam and Gyeongsangnam-do over the’anchovy golden fishing ground’ between Yeosu and Namhae.
The Constitutional Court announced on the 25th that “In the judgment of the dispute on the authority of the coastal boundary line near Sejon-do and Galdo, Gyeongnam-do made a decision to dismiss it with the consensus opinion.”
The Constitution said, “The city of Jeonnam and Yeosu have exercised authority on coastal fishing licenses based on the maritime boundary line on the national basic island. “When we put this together, it is possible to recognize the current boundary line as a boundary line under the unwritten law as there is a long-term repeated practice on the premise that the disputed waters belong to the jurisdiction of Jeonnam-do and Yeosu-si.”
This case was the first decision by the Constitution to confirm maritime boundaries under the unwritten law. The origin of the conflict is in the waters between Namhae-gun, Gyeongnam and Yeosu-si, Jeollanam-do. This is the largest anchovy fishing ground on the southern coast as a forked road where anchovy flocks flowing into the South Sea coast are scattered along the Gyeongnam or Jeonnam coast. ‘Jukbang Anchovy’, recognized as the best anchovy in Korea, is caught here. Various fishes that feed on anchovies and stone octopus also flock here, forming a fish group in all seasons. The water area where the conflict occurred is about 20,000 ㏊, which is about 70 times the area of Yeouido.
“There are 1,500 Yeosu fishermen who fish in this area, and the fishery output is estimated at 350 billion won,” said No Pyeong-woo, president of the Yeosu Fisheries Association. “About half of the fish caught are anchovies.”
The conflict between Jeollanam-do and Gyeongnam-do dates back to July 2011. It started when the Yeosu Coast Guard cracked down on 18 industrial complexes, Kwon Hyeon-mang, an anchovy catcher on Gyeongnam ships, operating in the waters between Jeonnam and Gyeongnam for violating the Fisheries Act. When the fleet was subject to a fine (1 million to 2 million won) and suspension of fishing for up to two months, fishermen in Gyeongnam Province strongly opposed and filed an administrative lawsuit. It was said that the fishing area should be divided based on the line that crosses the Andona year in Yeosu, Jeollanam-do, based on Sejondo and Tongyeong Galdo in Namhae.
However, in June 2015, the Supreme Court convicted fishing vessels invading the Jeollanam-do district, saying,’As there are no separate regulations on maritime boundaries between cities and provinces under the Local Autonomy Act, it is reasonable to use the national basic map as a standard.’
In the first place, Gyeongnam Province and Namhae-gun have been hoping that they will be successful after seeing the recent precedent of the Constitutional Court, which has a similar dispute. The Constitution recognized the maritime boundary of the national basic map in a dispute between Dangjin City in Chungnam and Pyeongtaek City in Gyeonggi over the jurisdiction over the levee jurisdiction of a port facility built in Asan Bay in 2004. However, in the dispute over jurisdiction over the tidal flats of Gochang and Buan, Jeollabuk-do in 2019, following the dispute over the waters of the Cheonsu Bay Sangpal Fishing Site between Hongseong and Taean in 2015, all cited the equidistant midline.
Gyeongnam-do predicted that the existing national basic map would have a different judgment on the recognition of the maritime border in relation to the maritime zone border dispute, but eventually lost.
An official from Gyeongnam Province said, “Before the Constitutional Court process, I have suggested opinions on the joint fishing zone with Jeonnam.” Said.
Jeonnam-do and Yeosu-si greeted it, saying it was a’natural result’. An official from Yeosu City said, “We have been cracking down on the basis of the national basic map, but if the result of reversing it comes out, there will have been a great confusion.”
[박진주 기자 / 최승균 기자 / 홍혜진 기자]
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