A Wooden Vessel of Guryongpo
“Try a bite of this dried saury! Green tea flavor has been added.” An old lady arranged a table with a plate full of sliced raw fish in front of her fish restaurant, as if she was serving sample to people in a supermarket. Soon, her loud voice began to draw people’s attention. In Guryongpo, dried fish is now in season. From house to house, dried fish, instead of laundry, were hanging with their mouths tied to strings under the winter sunlight. This unique scenery presented as a part of the whole picture of the winter beach.
On the eastern edge of the boundary of Korea, which forms a shape of a tiger, you will meet Guryongpo. The gulf located between the tiger’s back and tail is called Youngil. It has served as an efficient port throughout the history with the support of natural conditions, leading prosperous fishing industry. The Eastern Sea is also well known for its clean seawater due to frequent tidal current; this serves as an essential reason for its fish being recognized as one of the best.
Guryongpo as a firm base for fishery provides 80 percent of fish including squids, mackerel pikes, and scombroid. Although the ocean is considered as a gift of nature, there is nothing else near the region for its residents to rely on except the sea. “You need to work in order to feed yourself. We have to go out to the ocean despite nausea and fatigue.” said Keun-yi Kim, a 67-year-old fisherman who has lived in Guryongpo for a half century. Almost everyone living in Guryongpo does work that is closely related to the fishing industry: people actually catch fish, sell fish, or process captured fish.