Korea-backed Yongjin Tackle carves niche in squid hook exports

Yongjin Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd., a Korea-invested manufacturer based in Yantai on China’s eastern Shandong coast, has spent more than three decades quietly building a specialised export business around one of commercial fishing’s most demanding product categories: squid hooks.

Founded in May 1994 with backing from Korea’s Yongjin Industrial Co., Ltd., the company has positioned itself as a dedicated supplier of squid hooks and complementary squid-fishing hardware, including soft flexible hooks and swivels. While many Chinese tackle manufacturers chase volume across broad product lines, Yongjin has narrowed its focus, betting that depth of expertise in a single, technically demanding segment can deliver stronger margins and longer buyer relationships than scale alone.

That bet has been shaped by the Korean parent’s deep familiarity with East Asian squid fisheries, where the jigging technique dominates and gear failure at sea carries real commercial cost. Korean and Japanese operators, in particular, demand hooks that combine the right balance of sharpness, tensile strength, and corrosion resistance to withstand repeated deployment in deep, cold water. By manufacturing in Yantai, Yongjin sits within a few hundred kilometres of major squid grounds in the Yellow Sea and the western Pacific, giving the company a logistical edge in serving these demanding fleets.

The company’s workforce of between 11 and 50 employees places it firmly in the small-to-medium enterprise bracket, a segment that punches well above its weight in China’s tackle export economy. Smaller manufacturers often serve as nimble specialists, producing customised or low-volume runs that larger factories cannot accommodate economically. For international buyers sourcing squid fishing gear, this scale can be an advantage: shorter communication chains, faster product adjustments, and a willingness to develop bespoke specifications.

Soft flexible hooks and swivels, two of Yongjin’s stated specialties, are critical consumables in commercial squid operations. Soft hooks reduce damage to the catch and improve hooking ratios on automatic jigging machines, while high-quality swivels prevent line twist during the rapid vertical movements that characterise squid jigging. The pairing of these two product categories under one roof allows the company to offer buyers a consolidated supply source for the hardware side of a squid-fishing spread, reducing the complexity of multi-vendor procurement.

Yongjin’s longevity is itself a signal in a sector where Chinese tackle suppliers frequently enter and exit the market. Reaching the thirty-year mark in 2024, the company has navigated multiple cycles of raw material cost volatility, shifting tariff regimes, and the long-running transformation of China’s coastal fisheries, including periodic domestic fishing moratoriums that have reshaped demand patterns for commercial gear. Surviving that span suggests a combination of product quality and customer loyalty that newer entrants struggle to replicate.

For international buyers, the company’s Korea-invested status may also carry practical implications. Korean fishing tackle buyers are widely regarded among the most exacting in the world, and the parent company’s involvement likely sets a quality benchmark that exceeds what purely domestic Chinese suppliers typically face. This provenance can simplify due diligence for Western importers unfamiliar with the Chinese tackle landscape, providing a familiar reference point for quality expectations.

As global demand for cephalopods continues to grow, driven by expanding aquaculture feed markets and sustained consumer interest in squid as a protein source, specialised gear manufacturers like Yongjin are well placed to benefit. The company’s combination of geographic proximity to key fishing grounds, Korean technical standards, and focused product expertise positions it as a noteworthy, if understated, player in the international squid fishing tackle trade.

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