Women of the sea' Korea's traditional divers have a modern mission

Here is an episode in the Netflix drama When Life Gives You Tangerines where a woman dives into the sea and brings back a catch of abalone (sea snails), which she says will feed her family.

- Lisa Bachelor

Here is an episode in the Netflix drama When Life Gives You Tangerines where a woman dives into the sea and brings back a catch of abalone (sea snails), which she says will feed her family. The woman is a haenyeo. Haenyeo, or "women of the sea", have been recorded as far back as the 17th century and are unique to the island of Jeju in South Korea, where they fish sustainably, diving time and again on a single breath to bring back shellfish and seaweed.

Yet the scene, set in the 1960s, simply wouldn't happen today, said Myeonghyo Go, a haenyeo who lives in the village of Iho-dong on Jeju. "The seaweeds here are disappearing, and seaweed is the food for abalone. Because we don't have the seaweeds, we don't have abalone."

Myeonghyo is not only a haenyeo, she is a citizen scientist and environmentalist. In her 40s, she represents the new generation of Korea's traditional divers and her mission is to change how they are seen by the outside world.

Haenyeo are one of the country's most famous cultural exports, with Unesco officially inscribing their work on the representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity because of their focus on sustainability. Yet their future is at a crossroads. Most of them now are over 70, so the national government and the Jeju authorities are keen for a new generation to come forward.