North Koreans turn to squid to compensate for drought

With North Korea in the midst of a severe drought, residents are rushing to the East Sea to catch squid. News of the profits available has spread rapidly, spurring a growth in seasonal jobs and a huge increase in the the price of housing along the country’s coast.

“The areas on the East Sea are bustling with people from all over the country,” said a source from South Hamkyung Province on the eastern seaboard. “There are so many people seeking lodging in these areas that fishing villages and towns around piers have seen their rental fees increase to five times the going rate.”

Though no official statistics have been released, reports from sources in the area suggest about 150,000 people have flocked to seaside towns in the province.

The number of new arrivals significantly dwarfs that of those natives to the area”, the source said. “Piers are teeming with people filling various roles, such as ‘runners’, who take squid directly from boats, and ‘processors’, who clean them.”

Eager to fill the industry’s new jobs, the crowded piers have been described by residents as “Hong Kong Markets”, such is the level of buying, selling and hiring.

Workers are employed to streamline the operation to prepare the seafood for export, sources say. These are allowed to keep two out of every 10 squid they process. Many women, he said, stay up well into the early morning hours to fulfil orders.

Signs of a bumper squid harvest were visible as early as June, as Daily NK reported at the time. The same change in climate that brought the drought also warmed the oceans – bringing squid in abundance.

The source confirmed that this surge is due to the devastating effects of the drought on farming. Unable to harvest the land, they are turning to the sea for their livelihood. Another reason for the boom is the relaxation of regulations, with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un promising to “provide more fish for the people this year”. Though a license is required to charter a boat, as the industry is less lucrative than, say, the drug trade, the bribes attached to these licenses are relatively affordable for the average citizen.

Squid is popular in North Korean cooking, and used as a folk medicine against fevers, but the market is primarily export-based: roughly 89% of squid are sold to China. On a particularly good 12-hour shift, a boat can expect to catch 50kg of squid, which they can sell for 500,000 KPW, equivalent to about £40 (according to our own black market tracking), and the season lasts from May to early October.

Rising rents

With the huge increase in migrant workers, living space is at a premium.

“Renting living space now costs about 250,000 KPW per month – a fivefold increase compared to last year, when the monthly rent was about 53,000 KPW, or roughly the cost of 10kg of rice in North Korea’s markets,” said the source.

Usually, the itinerant population are given space in the attic, but, with few available vacancies, many local families are moving into warehouses, and leasing their bedrooms out to short-term tenants.

To administer this process, some residents are acting as property brokers, helping people secure lodging in the coastal regions in return for 50 high-quality squid.

This currency is preferable to cash, according to the source.

A version of this article appeared on Daily NK