The United States enforces the seafood import regulations so-called the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), and by 2023, all exports of aquatic products and processed fish products by fisheries which have not obtained an “Comparability Finding” from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be completely banned. Therefore, to respond to the US MMPA, it is critical to identify technologies and methods used in worldwide for reducing bycatch of marine mammals. In particular, marine mammals are frequently caught in five fisheries (trawl, gill net, trap, stow net and set net) in Korea, which is facing a great challenge. This study presented bycatch reduction methods by five fisheries, classified the methods by country, and suggested appropriate reduction methods which can be applied in Korea.

The swimming behavior of pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) in the offshore sea cage of the brass fishing net was observed and analyzed by imaging sonar techniques. The cultured fish spent most of the time swimming a circular path along the circular cage wall and continued to swim only clockwise direction without completely changing the swimming direction during the 23-hour observation time. In addition, changed swimming behaviors were divided into four categories: (a) the behavior of a large group temporarily swimming in the opposite (counter clockwise) direction, (b) the behavior of a small group temporarily swimming in a small circular path, (c) the behavior swimming small circular path in the center of the cage, and (d) the behavior of a large group swimming across the center of the cage. The maximum swimming speed of the cultured fish was from 3.5 to 3.8 TL/s, the mode was from 1.2 to 1.4 TL/s and the swimming speed during the day time was faster than at night time. It was confirmed the cultured fish swam not only on the surface but also near the bottom net of the cage during the day, but swam mainly at the upper part of the cage at night.

Recently, wideband acoustic technology has been introduced and started to be used in fisheries acoustic surveys in various waters worldwide. Wideband acoustic data provides high vertical resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio and continuous frequency characteristics over a wide frequency range for species identification. In this study, the main characteristics of wideband acoustic systems were elaborated, and a general methodology for wideband acoustic data analysis was presented using data collected in frequency modulation mode for the first time in Republic of Korea. In particular, this study described the data recording method using the mission planner of the wideband autonomous acoustic system, wideband acoustic data signal processing, calibration and the wideband frequency response graph. Since wideband acoustic systems are currently installed on many training and research vessels, it is expected that the results of this study can be used as basic knowledge for fisheries acoustic research using the state-of-the-art system.

In September and October 2020, combined acoustic and trawl surveys were conducted in the northwestern sea of Jeju Island. In the survey area, a region, so called Jeju region, was designated to esimate the biomass of chub mackerel and jack mackerel using a trawl survey method and frequency difference method. In the September survey, the weight ratios of jack mackerel and chub mackerel to the total catch were 24.6% and 2.8%, respectively, and in the October survey, those ratios were 24.9% and 20.7%, which were used to calculate their biomass (trawl survey). Using the frequency difference range (–8 to –3dB) corresponding to two species in 120 and 200 kHz, their biomass was estimated (frequency difference method). As a result, the biomass of two species from the trawl method was 3252.3 tons in September and 5777.0 tons in October. The estimated biomass by the frequency difference method was 4926.6 tons in September and 7521.5 tons in October. It was the first trial to estimate the biomass of two species using the trawl and frequency differencing methods in South Korea although there were some differences between two methods. In addition, horizontal distributions of acoustic backscattering strength over the entire survey area were mapped.

Using environmental DNA (eDNA) in the fisheries and oceanography fields, research on the diversity of biological species, the presence or absence of specific species and quantitative evaluation of species has considerably been performed. Up to date, no study on eDNA has been tried in the area of fisheries acoustics in Korea. In this study, the biomass of a dominant species in the northwestern waters of Jeju Island was examined using 1) the catch ratio of the species from trawl survey results and 2) the ranking ratio of the species from the eDNA results. The dominant species was Zoarces gillii, and its trawl catch ratio was 68.2% and its eDNA ratio was 81.3%. The Zoarces gillii biomass from the two methods was 7199.4 tons (trawl) and 8584.6 tons (eDNA), respectively. The mean and standard deviation of the acoustic backscattering strength values (120 kHz) from the entire survey area were 135.5 and 157.7 m 2 /nm 2 , respectively. The strongest echo signal occurred at latitude 34° and longitude 126°15’ (northwest of Jeju Island). High echo signals were observed in a specific oceanographic feature (salinity range of 32-33 psu and the water temperature range of 19-20℃). This study was a pilot study on evaluating quantitatively aquatic resources by applying the eDNA technique into acoustic-trawl survey method. Points to be considered for high-quality quantitative estimation using the eDNA to fisheries acosutics were discussed.

The fish influx and behavioral properties at a set-net off Goseong, South Korea were investigated using an imaging sonar. As a result, the average influx of fish was 33.9% at day time and 66.1% at night time, respectively, which indicated that a majority of fish entered into a playground in the set-net at night. The fish behavioral properties such as target (fish) length, range, orientation and major-axis angle were examined and compared among survey dates (4, 5, and 6 June 2019) using the statistical analysis tool (analysis of variance, ANOVA). The behavioral properties presented differently sometime of survey dates. This is preparatory study to support fish behavior properties in a set-net. It is expected that more elaborated behavioral information of fishes in the set-net is beneficial for designing and deploying a set-net fishing gear as well as general fish behavior research in the future.

Various artificial reefs provide the fish habitat and nursery, and contribute the improvement of fisheries productivity. The evaluation methods of fishery resources in the artificial reefs have been done by fishing, scuba diving, underwater camera, and scientific echo sounder/sonar. There are a number of studies using echosounders on the quantitative and qualitative evaluations of artificial reefs in various seas around the world. This study focused on the spatial distribution of fishes around artificial reefs and the influential area of reefs off Bukchon, Jeju Island. Not only acoustic data but also various properties of artificial reefs were used in the geographic information system to extract relevant results. As a result, the major material of reefs on this study site was concrete and the number of reefs with that material was the most. The volume of reefs consisted of steel only and steel with riprap was considerably large compared to other reefs. The average NASC in the vertical distribution of fishes in artificial reefs was 31.6 m2/nm2 in April, and that was 61.3 m2/nm2 in June. The distance between the fish school and their nearest reef in June morning had a wide range from 750 to 3250 m. On the basis of the influence ray of artificial reefs, it had a tendancy of NASC to decrease with distance from the reef in the June morning. It is a preliminary study to present the geospatial analysis example to understand a better way of comprehensive artificial reef environments.

Acoustics are increasingly regarded as a remote-sensing tool that provides the basis for classifying and mapping ocean resources including seabed classification. It has long been understood that details about the character of the seabed (roughness, sediment type, grain-size distribution, porosity, and material density) are embedded in the acoustical echoes from the seabed. This study developed a sophisticated yet easy-to-use technique to discriminate seabed characteristics using a split beam echosounder. Acoustic survey was conducted in Tongyeong waters, South Korea in June 2018, and the verification of acoustic seabed classification was made by the Van Veen grab sampler. The acoustic scattering signals extracted the seabed hardness and roughness components as well as various seabed features. The seabed features were selected using the principal component analysis, and the seabed classification was performed by the K-means clustering. As a result, three seabed types such as sand, mud, and shell were discriminated. This preliminary study presented feasible application of a sounder to classify the seabed substrates. It can be further developed for characterizing marine habitats on a variety of spatial scales and studying the ecological characteristic of fishes near the habitats.

Acoustic surveys were conducted in the seas surround the South Korea (South Sea A, South Sea B (waters around the Jeju Island), West Sea and East Sea) in spring and autumn in 2016. First, the vertical and horizontal distributions of fisheries resources animals were examined. In most cases vertical acoustic biomass was high in surface water and mid-water layers other than South Sea A in autumn and West Sea. The highest vertical acoustic biomass showed at the depth of 70-80 m in the South Sea A in spring (274.4 m2/nmi2) and the lowest one was 10-20 m in the West Sea in autumn (0.4 m2/nmi2). With regard to the horizontal distributions of fisheries resources animals, in the South Sea A, the acoustic biomass was high in eastern and central part of the South Sea and the northeast of Jeju Island (505.4-4099.1 m2/nmi2) in spring while it was high in eastern South Sea and the coastal water of Yeosu in autumn (1046.9-2958.3 m2/nmi2). In the South Sea B, the acoustic biomass was occurred high in the southern and western seas of Jeju Island in spring (201.0-1444.9 m2/nmi2) and in the southern of Jeju Island in autumn (203.7-1440.9 m2/nmi2). On the other hand, the West Sea showed very low acoustic biomass in spring (average NASC of 1.1 m2/nmi2), yet high acoustic biomass in the vicinity of 37 N in autumn (562.6-3764.2 m2/nmi2). The East Sea had high acoustic biomass in the coastal seas of Busan, Ulsan and Pohang in spring (258.7~976.4 m2/nmi2) and of Goseong, Gangneung, Donghae, Pohang and Busan in autumn (267.3-1196.3 m2/nmi2). During survey periods, fish schools were observed only in the South Sea A and the East Sea in spring and the West Sea in autumn. Fish schools in the South Sea A in spring were small size (333.2 ± 763.2 m2) but had a strong SV (–49.5 ± 5.3 dB). In the East Sea, fish schools in spring had low SV (–60.5 ± 14.5 dB) yet had large sizes (537.9 ± 1111.5 m2) and were distributed in the deep water depth (83.5 ± 33.5 m). Fish schools in the West Sea in autumn had strong SV (–49.6 ± 7.4 dB) and large sizes (507.1 ± 941.8 m2). It was the first time for three seas surrounded South Korea to be conducted by acoustic surveys to understand the distribution and aggregation characteristics of fisheries resources animals. The results of this study would be beneficially used for planning a future survey combined acoustic method and mid-water trawling, particularly deciding a survey location, a time period, and a targeting water depth.

Distribution and composition of the seabed litters in the exclusive economic zone of the West Sea of South Korea including 18 sea-blocks were investigated using a bottom trawl gear of the R/V Tamgtu 20 (National Institute of Fisheries Science) from 24th April 2011 to 4th May 2012. Each trawl shot was conducted for an hour in each sea-block and the total trawl shots was 18. As a result, 325.6 kg of seabed litter in total has been collected.　The quantity of the seabed litter was highest at No. 202 of the sea-block, close to the Heuksan-Do. The highest occupied sea material was plastic (83.1% of entire seabed litters), the second highest material was metal combined with plastic (10.6%), and glass (2.9%), metals (2.3%), vinyl (0.6%), cloth (0.4%) and wood (0.2%) in order. The origin of seabed litters was from fishing gear (89.0% of all seabed litters). Therefore, it could be assumed that most seabed litters were derived from the fishing activity for example fishing nets and ropes.

For scientific research, a number of acoustic surveys using commercial echosounders equipped in fishing vessels were conducted throughout the world; however, few studies were performed in South Korea. Hence, this research is an preliminary study for presenting the application of a sounder from a fishing vessel. The fishing operations using a pair trawler (7 Cheonghae) was conducted in the Northwest-Western sea of Jeju Island from 20 to 23 April, 2016. Substantial impulse noises and attenuated signals were eliminated by the latest algorithms. Acoustic signals were grouped into the fish aggregations and long layer-like signals. The fish aggregations appeared between 30 and 60 m, and long layer-like signals showed the diurnal vertical migration. Energetic, morphological and positional properties of the fish aggregations and layer-like signals were described. The fish aggregations appeared mainly between sunrise and sunset; however layer-like signals tended to be presented regardless of time in consideration of the time series analysis. On the basis of the consignment sales, Scomberomorus niphonius, the target species of F/V 7 Cheonghae, was the highest catch with 4,280 kg (74.6%) and might have appeared in fish aggregations and layer forms.

The objective of this study was to provide fundamental information on fish swimming behavioral properties. Acoustic data was collected at nighttime from the 10th to 12th March, 2016 near Yokji Island in the South Sea of South Korea, and was analyzed using the fish track technique. This technique is to identify groups of single targets, which shows a pattern of systematic movement. As a result, the differences of the behavioral properties such as depth, swimming speed, vertical direction, horizontal direction, tortuosity, and depth change among days were minor; however, statistical results (Welch analysis of variance) showed significant difference between days. Especially, the target strength (TS) of the 11th were significantly different from the 10th and 12th. It could be assumed that gizzard shad, which was the dominant species from the catch on the 11th March, might have affected this difference. The correlation between TS and other properties was very week. The significant difference seemed even small differences of average values because of the large data volume.

Acoustic surveys using a scientific echosounder and trawl surveys were concurrently carried out in between Geoje and Tongyeong of the South Sea by season. The anchovy schools were identified by trawling in each station and used for frequency response analysis. Frequency responses of anchovy schools by season and species composition ratio were examined using multi-frequencies (18, 38, 70, 120 and 200 kHz). The frequency response r(f), is one of the acoustic characteristics which means the volume back-scattering strength ratio between a reference frequency and other frequencies. In spring, the r(f) of anchovy schools decreased with increased frequency, with the exception of 120kHz. While, in winter, the r(f) continuously decreased inversely proportional to the increase in frequency. Frequency response of anchovy schools presented a distinctive difference between spring and winter, however it did not different in spife of different species composition ratios in schools.

An acoustic and trawl pilot survey using a small vessel was conducted in Jinhae bay of the South Sea of South Korea on April 13~14, May 11~13 and June 8~10, 2015. During the survey, acoustic data was collected and bottom trawls were conducted at the same time. First, various noises were eliminated by using the Park method based on the Wang method(Wang et al., 2015; Park et al., 2015), the species compositions and catch rate from each bottom trawl were observed, and spatial distribution of fishery resources in the water column and their nautical area scattering coefficient (NASC) were investigated through acoustic data. During the entire survey period, 12 orders, 33 families and 41 species were caught. The most caught species in April, May and June were Okamejei kenojei, Zoarces gilli and Pholis nebulosa, respectively. Fish schools were observed near the line of net mouth height in April. Numerous weak scatters were presented on the echograms in May and June. Many fish schools appeared in between the water surface and 20 m deep in May. The NASC value from entire water columns was the lowest in April (35.9 m2/n･mile2) and highest in June (1541.3 m2/n･mile2).

The hydro–acoustic technology has been widely used in not only South Korea but also many foreign countries for various scientific purposes. Unfortunately acoustic data especially collected from field surveys may contain noises caused by a variety of sources. Therefore, it is exceedingly important to eliminate noises when acoustic data are analyzed to derive quantitative results. This study introduced two methods for eliminating noises easily and effectively using post–processing software. Used acoustic data were collected on the Jinhae bay and Tongyeong coast of the South Sea in April 2015. The first method, that is the Wang’s method, placed emphasis on ‘erosion filter’ to eliminate only data samples contaminated by noises. The second method (Yamandu’s method) focused on the ‘resample by number of pings’ to remove pings contained noises. To substantiate the effectiveness of two methods, the mean Sv (Volume backscattering strength), mean height and depth of the fish schools detected were compared between before and after using the noise elimination methods. In the Wang’s method the mean Sv was decreased from –52.4 dB to –52.9 dB, and in the Yamandu’s method from –52.6 dB to –53.3 dB, indicating that noises were successfully eliminated. The mean height (1.5 m) and depth (19.0 m) were same between before and after using two methods showing that the shapes of fish schools were not changed.

The multi-frequency characteristics of anchovy schools were investigated using six acoustic lines collected at 38 and 120 kHz while a primary trawl survey was conducted from 14 April and 18 April of 2014 in off the coast of Tongyeong and Geo–je. Here, the frequency characteristics mean ΔMVBS that is the difference of Mean Volume Backscattering Strength at two frequencies. To use the characteristics effectively, the optimal cell size (10×2 m) was determined by examining several different cell sizes in consideration with the shapes of fish schools and the ΔMVBS pattern. By examining 6 histograms of ΔMVBS, afternoon groups were occupied more in the ΔMVBS range of –6~–4 dB than that of –4~–2 dB, comparing to morning groups. The ΔMVBS range of the morning groups was between –16.9 dB and 11.6 dB, and that of the afternoon groups –16.7 dB and 13.0 dB. The average and standard deviation were –3.9±3.6 dB in the morning and –4.1±3.4 dB in the afternoon, suggesting that morning groups were 2 dB higher than afternoon groups. The ΔMVBS range of all anchovy schools regardless of morning and afternoon was between –16.9 dB and 13.0 dB, their average ΔMVBS was –4.1±3.5 dB. The characteristics can support to identify anchovy species in the waters where multiple fish species are distributed. It is hoped that this study presents the availability and benefit of acoustic data from a primary trawl survey.

Anchovy (Engraulis japonicus) is one of the most important species in the South Sea of South Korea. In order to estimate the biomass of anchovy, acoustic surveys, concurrently with trawling, were conducted in April, July, and September of 2013 and February of 2014 off the coast of Tongyeong and Yeosu. However, anchovies were found only during spring (April) and winter (February) surveys. To display only anchovy species confirmed by trawls on empty spaced echograms, virtual echograms were created. Three target strength (TS) values of anchovy were used: TS_z = 20 log L – (20/3) log (1+z/10) – 67.6 (Zhao et al.), TS_y =20 log L – 72.9 (Yoon et al.), TS_f = 20 log L – 71.9 (Foote). For anchovy schools combined with other species e.g., hairtail, squid, and Korean pomfret, their TS values were used to calculate an average TS. As a result, the anchovy biomass in the winter survey was approximately 75,000 tons (TS_z), 90,000 tons (TS_f), 114,000 tons (TS_y), respectively. The biomass in spring was 9,000 tons (TS_z), 9,200 tons (TS_f), 10,000 tons (TS_y). The sampling variance of spring was 70% and of winter was 30%. In order to manage anchovy resource sustainably, larvae and adult anchovy should be separately surveyed, the optimal area, date, and time for acoustic survey should be investigated, and the biomass survey should be done for relatively long and regular base.

Visual census and hydro-acoustic survey was carried out at Ulju small scale marine ranching area (MRA) to estimate demersal fish aggregations on September and November 2013. In this hydro-acoustic survey, the authors combined an image sonar with a scientific echo sounder to monitor an underwater situation and compare two acoustic data. Consequently, visual census survey was useful to estimate fish species composition for hydro-acoustic survey, because it is easy to identify aggregated fish species and overcome limits on a fishing depth and ability of an conventional fishing gear like a bottom gill-net or a fish trap at marine ranching area. Mean fish density was estimated as 0.757 g/m2 on September and 0.219 g/m2 on November and Fish abundance was finally calculated as 1.51ton (coefficient of variation, CV=13.1%) on September and 0.44ton (CV=47.7%) on November, respectively. Hydro-acoustic survey combined with the image sonar was useful to monitor fish aggregations and estimate fish stocks around artificial reefs at shallow coastal MRA. We were able to easily identify the underwater structures like an artificial reef and a fishing rope as well as fish aggregations from image sonar data. Therefore, the method was effective to separate unwanted echo signals in acoustic data of scientific echo sounder.