PA-SI-PHEONG

Abstract

The business of catching guchi along the west coast of Korea has developed peculiar fishing methods because of the habit of guchi and the particular circumstances of the guchi fishing grounds. Along Korea's west coast the sea is shallow to a great distance from the shore so that the tide ebbs far away from the shore, and consequently various kinds of fishing methods making use of the tide have developed. Due to the fact that during the fishing season the fishing ground moves from the south to the north, and that fish consumers live far away from the fishing ground, there have appeared cargo boats exclusively used for carrying fish.Since guchi are caught in plenty, although the business of catching them is temporary and managed individually, during the season all fishing boats of the country gather in the fishing ground while the inevitable cargo boats sppear there to buy fish directly from fishermen.At a base of fishing activities established near the fishing ground of guchi there usually appears shead of the fishing season a big pleasure resort that caters to those fishing and cargo boats. In Korea such a pleasure-providing fishing base is called Pa-si-pheong, and the wave of prosperity there a Pa-si boom. Originally, however, Pa-si-pheong means a market on the sea, i.e., a fishing ground where fish are traded.The Pa-si boom travels with the fishing ground from the south to the north, i.e., about 400km. from the southern end of Korea's west coast up to the Hai-ju Peninsula in the middle part of the coast. The Pa-si boom is brought about by fishermen, forwarding agents, merchants and prostitutes, all of whom have come from various parts of the country, and not by the inhabitants of the Pa-si-pheong village, few of whom engage in fishing or booming trade during the fishing season of guchi. Therefore, with the end of the season, their village becomes again a poor hamlet that it was before the boom.The history of Pa-si-pheong is very old. Taxes on fish along with taxes on salt were a chief source of national revenue. It so happened however that revenue from taxes was robbed by men of power and government offices in successive generations so that the nation's finance was thrown into confusion and fishermen became an object of exploitation. Nevertheless, the business of catching guchi has developed since old times as Korea's big fishery comparable to the fishing of mentai along the east coast, because, apart from the fact that the fish are plentiful, the fishing methods and the handling of fish caught are very rational. Another fact that guchi together with mentai are most liked by Koreans and consequently always in great demand constitutes a factor that has helped the business to grox.