01Basic safety etiquette
Before boarding, the first thing to check is whether a life jacket is being worn. The Korea Coast Guard recommends that all crew members and anglers wear a life jacket weighing at least 1.5 kg and with a volume of 150 L or more.
Wearing a life jacket minimizes body‑heat loss if you fall into the water and increases the time afloat by more than 30 %. This aligns with research showing that a 1 °C drop in core temperature doubles the risk of death.
Also, before boarding, locate the electric or manual life buoy (life ring) and briefly brief all team members on its use in an emergency.
02Cooperation and communication
On board, share fishing spots and arrange lines so they do not tangle. Statistics show that when lines overlap within 5 m, the probability of tangling rises by more than 70 %.
If radios or hand signals are pre‑designated among crew, sudden movements during a bite can be minimized. In particular, hand‑signal recognition reaches 95 % at speeds of 3 knot or less.
When sorting fish after the catch, clearly delineate each person’s work area. Providing an average of 2 m² per person reduces fish damage rates to 15 % or less.
- Not wearing a life jacket: Rescue time significantly increases if you fall into the water
- Line disorder: tangling leads to equipment damage and reduced fishing efficiency
- Lack of crew communication: collision risk in urgent situations
03Environmental protection etiquette
Protecting the marine ecosystem is central to fishing etiquette. The National Institute of Fisheries Science recommends keeping plastic waste to 0.3 kg or less per km² of fishing area.
After fishing, all remaining line, hooks, and plastic items must be collected. Reusing over 80 % of hooks and line can cut annual waste by 12 kg.
Debris floating on the surface hinders fish respiration and negatively impacts temperature‑sensitive species (e.g., olive flounder). Therefore, trash collection should be completed within 15 minutes before the trip ends.
04Pre‑trip checklist
Organizing pre‑trip items into a checklist greatly reduces errors. The checklist consists of five key elements.
- Life jacket and life buoy wear status
- Communication equipment (radio·mobile phone) battery level
- Weather·marine forecast (wind ≤15 kt, wave height ≤1.5 m)
- Fishing gear (line·hook·rig) condition
- Prepare environmental collection items
For example, Korea Coast Guard data show that when wind exceeds 15 kt, vessel control becomes unstable, lines move abruptly, and bite loss rates increase by more than 30 %.