The Job of a Fish Vendor at No-Ryang-Jin Fish Market
It’s ten in the morning at No-Ryang Jin fish market, and the workers wake up to prepare for another busy day. “Although it all differs, I work for 8-10 hours a day.” says the first interviewee. The workers start out the day by having to unpack newly arrived fish and get ready to sell their fresh produce. They work through most of the day and when they finish work around 6 p.m, the workers come home tired than the day before. The fishmarket workers repeat the very same schedule every day and have to face countless hardships during the process as well. Thus, the lives of the people who work at the fish markets become harsh due to the weather, sanitation, and the intense labor.
Demands for fish in Korea has skyrocketed drastically over the past few years, causing the workers at the fishmarket to become busier too. As many customers crowd the markets, the workers have to be able to supply them by obtaining produce from foreign countries, like Malaysia or Thailand. However, this equals to more work and struggles for the workers at the fish markets, such as workers having to unpack the newly arrived fish faster. The main focus is the issue on fish markets, the people or the demands, but the working conditions in these markets. Especially during the winter, these markets would fall down to freezing temperatures with cold air blowing all over these workers. The workers also have close contact with the cold waters because of the fresh fish, causing their fingers to be even icier than before. In addition to the problem of low temperatures, the biggest problem to the workers is the exhaustion. From working almost every minute of every day of the week, the workers at these fish markets have to face the exhaustion from working all day. As quoted from an interviewee, “these men and women struggle to do their jobs everyday, and eventually become very exhausted due to the working conditions at the fish markets. From these issues, the workers at the markets struggle to have an easy day at work.” |
BY SEAN JS LEE
JON LEE NICK SHIN EDITED BY SARAH PARK DESIGN BY SEAN JS LEE |