Local community solidarity activities through the fishery industry and the global seafood distribution network: focused on Guryongpo
Authors:   Korean Association of Regional Sociology, Kong Mihee 
Published: September 2023

This paper examines the historical background and characteristics of the Guryongpo fishery industry, and analyzes the local community’s solidarity activities through the fishery industry, focusing on the big catch festival hosted by the Guryongpo Fisheries Cooperative and the Guamegi Festival hosted by the Pohang Guryongpo Guryongpo Catfish Business Cooperative. In addition, the global distribution network of Guryongpo’s representative seafood was first examined through newspaper articles, and the Gupaegi distribution network was analyzed through interviews with Gupyongpo overseas exporters to further understand the local situation.
The Guryong Po Fisheries Industry can be traced back to the Bronze Age with the excavation of fishing nets (net weights) in the Bronze Age remains. After the opening of the port, many Japanese people migrated to the Korean Peninsula, and Guryongpo changed rapidly as the Japanese immigrants formed fishing villages and the settlement of immigrants began. In the residential complex of immigrants, which extended along the main road along the coast, important facilities were equipped, and various facilities such as common workshops, fish markets, fishery transport shops, shipyards, canneries, pioneer shops, fishing gear stores, and warehouses took their place. Guryongpo’s representative fish species were mackerel, herring, and sardines in the early days when the Japanese spoke the language. However, herring has not been caught since the 1950s, and in the middle of the year, Gwamegi was already being made with saury instead of herring. From the early 1960s to the 1980s, saury was caught so much that it was considered a representative fish species of the East Coast. However, fishermen always felt uneasy about human casualties and natural disasters caused by storms during fishing. In response, the Shipowners’ Association held the Guryongpo Big Fishing Festival in hopes of fulfilling the wishes of fishermen who wish for safe fishing and a large catch of fish and for income increase. However, as time passed, the shipowners’association ran into a difficult situation due to the cost of the festival and asked the Fisheries Cooperative, and the Guryongpo Fisheries Cooperative held the festival every four years from 2005. Even though the festival is being held under the sponsorship of the Fisheries Cooperatives, looking at the progress so far, it can be seen that there are various solidarity activities between the citizens as well as between the Fisheries Cooperatives and the citizens. Also, through the Guryongpo Gwamegi Festival, it was confirmed that solidarity activities with the Gwamegi business cooperative, merchants, and citizens were continuously conducted. Lastly, as for the analysis of the distribution network of global seafood, first, the characteristics of newspaper articles and press materials were reviewed, and interviews were conducted with Guppong overseas exporters to better understand the current situation. As a result, the current reality is that overseas exports are experiencing more difficulties than domestic sales in many aspects, such as procedures, tastings and promotion methods overseas, distribution network expansion to various countries, customer management, economic costs, and passive government support. was Therefore, Guryongpo, including Pohang City, should strive to expand the global seafood distribution network so that continuous research and improvement can be made inconsideration of the sustainability of seafood distribution to contribute to the revitalization of the local economy.