Three out of five people who returned to fishing villages reported high satisfaction with their line of work. In particular, one out of two said they would recommend returning to fishing villages to people around them. As for "relations with local residents," long cited as a barrier to rural life, four out of five said their relations were smooth.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced the "2025 survey on the actual conditions of return to fishing villages," conducted on 1,429 people who returned between 2020 and 2024. An official at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) said, "We carried out the survey to analyze why returnees decided to move, the industries they work in, and satisfaction with life after returning, and to use the findings as basic data for future policies on returning to fishing and rural areas."
The most common reason for returning was deciding to move to find new jobs in fishing villages (34.3%). Next were those who returned to succeed their parents' business or at the recommendation of acquaintances running fisheries (19.5%).
When choosing a region, having family or acquaintances living there was deemed most important (78.2%).
Regarding satisfaction with their current line of work, 58.9% responded positively. Those who said they would recommend returning accounted for 51.2% of respondents, up 12.4 percentage points from the previous survey.
The response rate saying relations with local residents are also being maintained smoothly reached 79.2%.
The most common preparation period for returning was from 1 year to under 1 year and 6 months (36.2%). As for channels for obtaining information related to returning to fishing and rural areas, most relied on acquaintances around them (84.2%). An official at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) explained, "It appears necessary to strengthen the provision of information related to returning to fishing and rural areas."
Changes in the structure of the fisheries sector also stand out. Compared with the previous survey, the share of returnees engaged only in fishing fell from 91% to 82.2%. In contrast, the shares engaged in aquaculture (13.9%) and in both fishing and aquaculture (3.9%) increased.
As the most needed policy, respondents cited initial settlement support (31.1%) as most necessary, given the high startup expense characteristic of fisheries.
Park Seung-jun, director-general for fishing village and aquaculture policy at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF), said, "We will continue to push tailored policies to diversify income and improve housing conditions so that returnees can settle stably in fishing villages and become self-reliant."