In addition to being an environmental threat, marine debris spoils the unique beauty of the ocean surrounding Jeju. Some fishermen blame tight regulations to justify illegal trash dumping, while officials do little to curb the practice. Mike Balfour reports.


Report

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Marine debris accumulates along the coast

Floating oceanic debris enters the island’s marine environment every day.

It spoils the unique beauty of the Jeju ocean and harms wildlife and habitat.

Some of the litter comes from thoughtless beachgoers.

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Fishing boats the source of much debris

Much of the marine debris is derelict fishing gear that fishermen throw into the ocean. It drifts to the coast.

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Meeting between province, coast guard, and fishermen (Dec. 6)

Plastic bottles, disposable containers and other lost or discarded items also accumulate along the shoreline.
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Annually, over the last 3 years, an average of more than 10,000 tons of marine debris drifted to local shores.
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At a meeting between the administration and fishermen, marine litter was the biggest topic.

Fishermen insist that tight regulations encourage them to dump trash into the ocean instead of discouraging dumping.

They say when they bring defunct fishing gear to shore, they face a strict waste sorting and separation policy, which encourages illegal dumping into the water.

Recording
Song Yeo-hwan / Fisherman
We could put out unsorted trash before the waste sorting and separation policy was put in place. Now, we face a fine of between 100,000 and 200,000 won. This is why we dump trash in the water. It disappears and nobody knows unless someone reports it to the coast guard.
<싱크 : 송여환 / 어민>
"(예전에는 마대에 한번에 버리다가) 이제는 분리수거 안해서 버리면 10만 원이고, 20만 원이고 때리겠다는데. 그럼 바다에 다 버려버리지. 바다에 버리면 표시없어요. 누가 당장 (신고하지 않으면….)"

The administration’s derelict fishing gear retrieval program is also controversial.
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Compensation for derelict fishing gear is set at 1,000 won per 10 liters of volume.

The price of old polystyrene buoys is set at only 250 won per kilogram.

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Due to the insufficient compensation, fishermen don’t voluntarily participate in the program.

Meanwhile, authorities refuse to make changes.

Recording
Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries representative
Based on the “polluters pay” principle, fishermen should collect and properly dispose of derelict fishing gear. That’s unrealistic, though, so we have the trash separation policy and retrieval program to prevent illegal dumping into the ocean.
<싱크 : 해수부 관계자>
"어구들은 어민들이 발생한 것들입니다. 원칙적으로 말씀드리면 원인자부담 원칙에 따라서 어민들이 발생시킨 어구는 어업인들이 수거처리를 해야하는데 현실적으로 그렇지 못하고 있다 보니까 재투기하는 것들을 방지하기 위해서 (최소한의 수매사업을….")

Marine debris harms wildlife and habitat resulting in economic losses to fishermen.

[Reporter] Mike Balfour
[Camera] Moon Ho-seong

This catch 22 situation needs urgent attention from both fishermen and authorities.

Mike Balfour, KCTV