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North Korea Dramatically Hikes Fisheries Fines to Combat Illegal Exports

NORTH KOREA
Tuesday, November 11, 2025, 07:00 (GMT + 9)

May Revision Raises Penalties Up to 10-Fold and Imposes Sailing Bans for Smuggling and Administrative Non-Cooperation

PYONGYANG – North Korea has significantly escalated punitive measures within its fisheries sector, enacting a May revision to its fisheries law that drastically increases fines and emphasizes "criminal accountability" to curb illegal exports and administrative non-cooperation.

The most severe penalties target smugglers: those caught illegally exporting fishery products are now subject to fines equal to 10 times the value of the exported goods, a punitive measure designed to stop large-scale fishery smuggling at the source. Previously, a fixed fine was imposed, regardless of the scale of the infraction. This key change was reported by Mun Dong Hui for Daily NK, which obtained the text of the amended law.

Key Legislative Changes and Penalty Hikes

The updated law marks a complete revision of the punishment provisions, now organized as a separate chapter titled "Legal Accountability." The previous 2022 law section, Chapter 5, focused on "Guidance and Control of Fishery Sector Activities."

Penalties for other infractions have also seen massive increases, rising by at least 150% and in some cases up to 10-fold:

• Catching Protected Species:

  • Fines for agencies, enterprises, and groups rose from a range of 100,000 to 500,000 KPW (approx. US$11 to US$56) to 1 million to 1.5 million KPW (approx. US$111 to US$167).

  • Fines for individuals rose from 10,000 KPW (approx. US$1.11) to 50,000 to 100,000 KPW (approx. US$5.56 to US$11.11).

• Catching Undersized Fish:

  • Fines for agencies, enterprises, and groups rose from 100,000 to 500,000 KPW to 500,000 to 1.5 million KPW (approx. US$56 to US$167).

  • Fines for individuals rose from 10,000 KPW to 30,000 to 100,000 KPW (approx. US$3.33 to US$11.11).

New fines were also introduced for actions such as producing goods without documenting the catch (1 million KPW or approx. US$111 for organizations) and going to sea without gear inspection.

Centralized Control and Sailing Bans

The May amendment also added Article 50, which introduces the severe punishment of banning fishing boats from going to sea.

According to Yoon Injoo, a researcher at South Korea’s Korea Maritime Institute, the new article includes eight infractions that can lead to temporary or permanent bans on sailing or fish farm operations. Notably, the list includes not only illegal fishing but also hindering the adoption of fishery information management systems, refusing to respond to fish farm surveys, and refusing lawful crackdowns by supervisory officials.

Yoon stated that this move signifies that authorities are strictly managing fisheries by encompassing non-cooperative and administrative hindering behaviors in the list of sanctionable offenses. The entire framework aims to manage and supervise the sector in a centralized way by prioritizing administrative control and intensifying penalties.

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