Cooperation and Practices of Cod Fishermen toward Sustainable Fishery: A Case Study of Geoje City

Cod has been one of the fish that human beings have loved. It has not been long since it recovered from its situation of almost extinction in all oceans of the world. The historical process of its depletion and recovery raises key questions: Who owns the common pool resource? Who should manage the common pool resource? These have led to several strategies and countermeasures, some of which have been successful at stemming species decline. In South Korea, cod has long recorded high production due to its high demand as a favorite fish species. However, the phenomenon of declining and depleting cod led to a situation where we had to take seriously the question of who and how to manage cod. Having repeatedly experienced the exhaustion and recovery of the resource, fishermen had to think seriously about the crisis of their profession and the sustainability of the fishery. To achieve it, fishermen organized the fishing community, made a set of rules, and began common activities to manage resources and use fishing grounds. The voluntary resource management activities and practices of the fishing community began to take effect as they interacted with local governments and the fisheries authorities. Fishermen are now carrying out cultural activities not only for their livelihood, but also for the sustainability of cod fishing. In this paper, I will examine how the fishing community strategy and practice interacted with the system and achieved successful results through the case analysis of cod fishing in Geoje.