Managing Fishing at the Local Level: The Role of Fishing Village Cooperatives in Korea

This article examines the role of a local fisheries management institution, the fishing village cooperative in Korea, in order to understand the recent changes in local regulations on fishing. To address the mechanisms operative in local fisheries management, the article starts by identifying historical influences that led to the creation of a state-integrated local fisheries management system. The article then explains fishing rights, self-regulation, and common fishing management specific to Korea and examines the way the fishing village cooperative changed local regulations to meet the changing external environment.