This study considers an approach for subregional fisheries organization in Northeast Asia. The fishery resources in the Northeast Asian waters surrounding Korea are among the most productive in the world because of their extremely high biological productivity and the natural features of the sea. However, the fishery resources of the region have long been subject to heavy fishing pressures, and many stocks are now believed to be seriously depleted or even in danger of extinction because of overfishing. To move to a run sustainable fishery in Northeast Asia waters area, cooperative fisheries management between Korea, China and Japan for common resource is probably necessary. Cooperative fisheries management is likely to be more effective in fishery resources management than individual fisheries management by countries. The effects of fisheries management by regional cooperation can be divided into resource management and economical performance. Cooperative fisheries management as RFO will bring satisfactory results. Currently these jurisdictional extensions and resulting disputes over maritime space and resources were thrust upon an already transitional and unstable political environment. However, They have to have a strategic approach for RFO establishment step by step. Cooperative fisheries management using the RFO can mitigate these disputes, and cooperative bilateral fisheries arrangements have been proliferating over the past 10 years and may provide the basis for possible trust-building multilateral agreements.

• Yong-Min Shin(Full-time researcher, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Pukyong National University) Corresponding author