Fishing trend and characteristics of Korean tuna purse seine fishery in the Pacific Ocean were investigated using logbook data compiled from captain onboard and the statistical data from 1980 to 2013. The historical catch of this fishery had sharply increased since mid–1980s, and it has shown fluctuations with about 2–3 hundred thousands, whereas the catch per number of vessel has steadily increased with fluctuations since commencing this fishery. As for the proportion of catch by set type, unassociated type had increased from the mid–1980s to the end of 1990s, and then has decreased up to 2010s. Associated type had decreased continually to the end of 1990s, however, it started to increase since the beginning of 2000s. As for the catch proportion of set type by main species, those of skipjack tuna and bigeye tuna showed higher in the associated type, whereas that of yellowfin tuna has the highest proportion in the unassociated type. Fishing distribution of Korean tuna purse seine fishery was concentrated on the area of 5°N~10°S and 140°E~180° through the decades. The monthly catch distribution by longitudinal zone of Korean tuna purse seine fishery expanded the most further to the eastward in September to October.

In an attempt to find the improvement of the fishing efficiency according to the hull form remodeling for the 3 tuna purse seiner, the Catch-Per-Unit-Effort (CPUE) for that undertaken before (2008) and after (2010) was analyzed. In addition, the CPUE of 6 similar ships operated same period and same fishing ground. As result, it came to verify that the three modified ships had a significant value on the CPUE. An another index for the improvement of fishing efficiency is the rate of reduction of fuel oil consumption for the modified ships. Fuel oil consumption per day in service speed as comparing with the original ships were reduced 2.1%, 4.0% and 5.1% on the modified ship A, B, and C respectively. And each ship’s service speed was increased 1.0 kt, 0.6 kt, and 0.4 kt according to the modified ship A, B, and C in due order. In the conclusion, the remodeling job with newly equipped bulbous bow, lengthened slipway and enlarged rudder area were improved fairly much on fuel oil efficiency, the ship’s speed, and in the end, that led to the improving fishing efficiency. Hence, the remodeling of tuna purse seiner come to improve not only the fishing performance, but contribute to the reduction of operating cost by saving energy for the fisheries industry.

Three specimens of larvae (5.2~7.8 mm in standard length (SL)), of the family Scombridae, were collected from the southeastern waters off Jeju Island in August, 2014. These specimens were identified to Katsuwonus pelamis have melanophores distributed on the 1st dorsal-fin spines and post ventral margin on caudal peduncle. An analysis of the cytochrome oxidase submit I (COI) sequences (652 base pairs) of mitochondrial DNA showed that our specimens must be K. pelamis, because their sequences were concordant with those of the adult K. pelamis (genetic distance= 0.000~0.002), followed by Auxis rochei (genetic distance= 0.061~0.063) and Euthynnus affinis (genetic distance= 0.077~0.079). During the larval stage, K. pelamis differed from Thunnus spp. species in melanophores distribution period of 1st dorsal-fin spines, lower jaws and ventral margin on caudal peduncle. In conclusion, occurrence of K. pelamis larvae means Korean waters are potential spawning ground of K. pelamis.

In an attempt to improve the maneuvering character of hull form renovated tuna purse seiner. A renovation was carried out on the 3 tuna purse seiner fishing vessel. To grasp the progress of maneuvering and resistance on ship B (730 ton class), new bulbous bow was only attached. The ship A (740 ton class) and C (600 ton class) were modified for new bulbous bow, enlarged slipway and rudder. And then the zigzag and the turning test were carried out. According to the turning test, the advance and the tactical diameter were improved very much for the modified ship. The sea trial was carried out for the original and modified ship A. It is showed that the results of sea trial corresponded with that of the tank test on the whole. In the result of the zigzag test on ship B, the turning ability was improved very much, but the yaw checking ability was deteriorated in just some degree. In the result of the zigzag test on ship C, the turning ability and yaw checking ability were remarkably improved. Ship C was greatly improved among the three ships for the maneuvering character of modified hull form.

This paper conducted research on identifying the process of change in fishing gear and organizing the function of periodically-used fishing gear types through net plan and computer simulation by selecting the design of the four types of fishing gear used for the Korea tuna purse seiner in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, which 1,000 G/T class and whose length over all 60 m class. In the late 1980s, the length of the tuna purse gear was 1,939 m and the design depth was 160 m, but currently, the length and the design depth are 2,515 m and 230 m, respectively. As a result of the simulation, the expansion of the fishing gear increased buoyance, sinking force, sinking depth, surrounded area, and purse wire continuously. Recently, the maximum tension of the currently used purse wire of tuna purse seiner is 23.5 tons and is close to 25.4 tons which is the maximum lift capacity of WS454 winch. The way to improve fishing gear should be proceeded to increase sinking speed rather than expand the size of fishing gear.

Korean distant water tuna longline fishery commenced in 1966 in the Atlantic Ocean. Since then, it has become one of the most important fisheries of Korea. By early of 1970s, total amount of tuna caught in the Atlantic Ocean was the highest among other Korean distant water tuna fisheries, but has become minor since 1990s. The annual catch of tuna and tuna-like species by Korean tuna longline fishery in the Atlantic Ocean was about 1,900 mt in 2013. Bigeye tuna was the predominant species in species composition followed by yellowfin tuna, Albacore tuna, Blue shark and Swordfish. Korean distant water tuna longline fishery have mainly operated in the tropical area of the Atlantic Ocean (20°N~20°S, 20°E~60°W), fishing ground was almost similar as in the previous years. The length frequency of major species (Bigeye tuna, Yellowfin tuna, Albacore tuna, Blue shark and Swordfish) were estimated. As the result of length (size) frequency data on main species caught by lonline fishery in the Atlantic Ocean, main length intervals of bigeye tuna caught in 2011, 2012 and 2013 were 120~125 cm, 160~165 cm and 130~135 cm, respectively. For yellowfin tuna, those were 125~130 cm, 150~155 cm, 145~150 cm and for albacore, 109 cm, 102 cm, 109 cm and 106 cm respectively. For swordfish caught in 2011, 2012 and 2013, main length intervals were 130~135 cm, 125~135 cm and 125~130 cm, respectively, and for blue shark, 195~200 cm in 2011 and 185~190 cm in 2012, 2013.

This study was conducted to investigate the attractant substances of different solvent fractions of mackerel and tuna viscera. Mackerel and tuna viscera were extracted with methanol and the resultant were fractionated with n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and water. The chemical compounds such as free amino acid, fatty acid, nucleotide related compounds contents were estimated for mackerel, tuna viscera and various fractions. These fractions were also subjected to attracting experiments in water tank to estimate attracting effects. The aqueous fractions of mackerel and tuna viscera showed the highest attraction effect on swimming crab. The major chemical compounds of the aqueous fractions were histidine, taurine, cysteine, glutamic acid, inosine monophosphate (IMP) and inosine (HxR) for mackerel and arginine, glutamic acid, aspartic aid, alanine, IMP and hypoxanthin (Hx). Results indicated that higher polarity compounds, such as amino acid and nucleotide related compounds have higher attraction activities than nonpolar substances such as neutral lipid.

A total of 24 juvenile specimens of Thunnus tonggol (5.45~7.26mm in total length) of the Sombridae were collected from the southeast sea of Jeju Island during 26~30 July, 2013. Twenty-four specimens identified T. tonggol have melanophores distributed on the 1st dorsal-fin rays, the dorsal of head and vetral side. Three individulas were identified using mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase submit 1 (CO1) sequences (452 base pairs). All were identified as T. tonggol, their mtCO1 sequences being consistent with those of Thunnus tonggol (d=0.000), followed by Thunnus albacares (d=0.002) and Thunnus obesus (d=0.007).

In an attempt to respond to the increase in international oil prices and reduce operating expenses, ship remodeling was carried out on a 740ton class tuna purse seiner. To strengthen the competitiveness of the fisheries industry by improving vessel performance, a bulbous bow was newly equipped. The slipway and rudder area were also lengthened and enlarged with the propeller and main engine remained unchanged. To reduce the hull resistance, a circle type bulbous bow was attached on the hull behind bow thruster and thus the cost for exchanging electrical equipment for bow thruster was reduced. The new rudder area was expanded 15% more than the old one within the extent that the existing mechanical control part and rudder stock were not changed. To prevent fishing net damage and stabilize wake field, slipway was lengthened to the optimal position. All of the new design of remodeling parts went through the model tests in towing tank and CWC. Besides resistance test, all of necessary model test results were delivered for hydrodynamic character for the modified ship. The maneuvering simulation to verify that the remodeled ship satisfies the IMO rules was performed in both zigzag and turning tests. The estimated resistance with new bulbous bow and lengthened stern was reduced by 4.8% in the 2-dimensional analysis and 17.4% in the 3-dimensional analysis in comparison of conventional ship. The average reduction of resistance was estimated about 10%. Maneuvering character of modified hull form was found to satisfy all regulations under IMO. The remodeling of tuna purse seiner can not only improve fishing performance but also contribute to reduction of operating cost by saving energy for the fisheries industry.

We conducted experiments to compare the catch rate of bigeye tuna and yellowfin tuna between circle hooks and straight shank hook in the Korean tuna longline fishery at the eastern and central Pacific Ocean from 2005 to 2007. We analyzed difference of fork length, survival and hooking location between a circle hook and a straight shank hook for both tunas, respectively. There was no difference in the mean fork length size of yellowfin tuna caught on the two type of hook but bigeye tuna was significant. In case of survival, there was no difference between two hook type, but the difference of hooking location was significant for both species. We also analyzed to find determinants of both tunas catch rate using generalized linear models (GLMs) which were used latitude, longitude, year, month, depth, hook type, bait type and so on as independent variables. Spatial factors, latitude and longitude, and temporal factors, year and month, affected catch rate of bigeye tuna and yellowfin tuna. And also, depth such as a marine environment factor was influenced on catch rate.

This study was performed to develop a video based system which can be used to measure the averaged fish size in a non-intrusive fashion. The design was based on principles of simple stereo geometry, incorporated fish dimensions weight relationships and took into consideration fish movement to lower system costs. As the fish size is an important factor that impacts the economy of an aquaculture enterprise. Size measurements, including fork length, width or height, girth, thickness and mass, can be used to determine fish condition in the fish farm, so the averaged fish size of fish cage needs to consistently monitor in open ocean aquaculture cage. A precision of ±3% for replicate length measurements of a 60cm bar is obtained at distances between 2.0 and 6.0m, and the mean fork length and mean swimming speed of bluefin tuna were estimated to 48.8cm and 0.78FL/s, respectively.

The purpose of this paper is to provide useful information for fishermen in the manner of investigation a sinking speed of current type tuna longline gear at the North Pacific Ocean as a new developed tuna longline fishing ground. The sinking depth of mainline in connection with different basket was investigated. The experiments were also performed with different materials such as Supermansen (i.e., PE) and Hitech (i.e., PA) for the mainline to investigate the sinking depth of mainline and hooks. Furthermore, the relation between the sinking depth of hooks and catches are investigated also. The sinking depth of mainline at the first and the last shooting basket shows deeper than that of middle part of a basket due to reduced shortening ratio. The sinking depth of mainline and hook with Hitech material shows more shallow than that of Supermanse material, even the Hitech case was designed to sink deeper than that of Supermanse case. The highest catches arise at the middle part basket as the hook number 7 with around 248m sinking depth. From the results, longline with Hitech material is needed to increase the sinking force for reaching the relevant sinking depth. Moreover, the current strength at the North Pacific Ocean will be considered for further commercial fishing.

본 연구에서는 경남 통영 욕지도에 참치양식용 내파성 가두리 설치시 Cochlodinium polykridoides 적조 발생에 대한 적정 침강 깊이를 설정하기 위하여 장시간 동안 C. polykrikoides의 수직이동 현상을 조사하였다. 욕지도 근해의 식물플랑크톤 총 세포밀도는 월별에 따라 매우 큰 변동폭을 보이고 있으며, 대부분 규조류가 우점종으로 출현하고 있다. 여름철 와편모조류의 종 조성을 보면 Gymnodinium sp.가 총 19회로 가장 많은 출현 횟수를 보였고, 특히 C. polykrikoides도 총 8회로 나타났다. 또한 Karenia brevis 및 Fibrocapsa japonica와 같은 유독성 적조생물도 출현하여 이 지역에서 식물플랑크톤에 대한 장기적 모니터링이 필요할 것이다. 일출과 일몰에 따른 Chl-a 농도의 변화와 총 세포수의 변화는 상호 유의한 상관성을 나타내어 부침식 가두리 양식장은 표층으로부터 최소한 3m 침강시켜야 C. polykrikoides 적조로 인한 피해를 현저히 감소시킬 수 있을 것이다.

본 연구는 경남 통영 욕지도에 참치양식용 내파성 가두리 설치시 Cochlodinium polykrikoides 적조 발생에 대한 적정 침강 깊이를 설정하기 위하여 24시간 수직이동 조사를 실시했다. 또한 6년 동안의 욕지도 근해해역에 대한 식물플랑크톤 군집구조를 분석하여 참치양식의 성공을 위한 기초정보를 제공하고자 한다. 욕지도 근해의 식물플랑크톤 총 세포밀도는 월별에 따라 매우 큰 변동폭을 보이고 있으며, 대부분 규 조류가 우점종으로 출현하고 있다. 여름철 와편모조류의 종 조성을 보면 Gymnodinium sp.가 총 19회로 가장 많은 출현 횟수를 보였고, 특히 C. polykrikoides도 총 8회로 나타났다. 또한 Karenia brevis 및 Fibrocapsa japonica와 같은 유독성 적조생물도 출현되어 본 지역에 대한 식 물플랑크톤 모니터링 필요할 것으로 생각된다. 일출과 일몰에 따른 Chl-a 및 총 세포수도 일치한 결과를 보여 부침식 가두리 양식장은 표층으 로부터 3-5 m 정도 침강시키는 것이 효율적인 깊이로 나타났다.

Ecological risk assessment(ERA), developed in Australia, can be used to estimate the risk of target, bycatch and protected species from the effects of fishing using limited data for stock assessment. In this study, we employed the ERA approach to estimate risks to tunas, billfishes, sharks, sea turtles and other species by the Korean tuna longline fishery in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean using productivity and susceptibility analyses of the ERA based on low(<1.30), medium(1.30-1.84) and high risk(>1.84). Albacore, bigeye, yellowfin, skipjack and bluefin tunas were generally evaluated in the medium risk. The susceptibility of tuna species, however, had higher risks than the productivity. Billfishes were also at medium risk, while sharks were at high risk by the tuna longline fishery. The risk of productivity was generally high, because most sharks caught by the tuna longline fishery have high longevities, i.e., over 10 years, including ovoviviparous species. Susceptibility, which is related with the selection of fishing gear, was also high, because the longline fishery has no gear modifications to prevent bycatch of protected species. Not only target tuna species were influenced by the tuna longline fishery in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, but also nontarget species, such as pomfret, mackerels rays, sea turtle were done. Ecosystem-based fishery assessment tools, such as productivity and susceptibility analysis(PSA), have the ability to provide broad scientific advice to the policy makers and stakeholders.

Data collected by on-board observers and from experimental surveys during 2004-2006 were analyzed to figure out the status of shark bycatch in Korean tuna longline fishery. Results obtained from 10 surveys indicated that 14, 13 and 1 species of shark were incidentally caught in Korean tuna longline fishery operated in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic (Mediterranean) Ocean, respectively, and that shark bycatch accounted for about 29-31% of the total catch. Sharks brought aboard were processed in 3 ways; out of 1,127 sharks observed, 575 sharks (51.0%) were discarded after finning, 299 sharks (26.5%) were stored frozen after finning for future use and 253 sharks (22.4%) were released into the sea immediately after caught. The fin to body weight ratio of sharks was estimated to be about 4.7% which is similar to the guideline of 5% established by the international fisheries organizations. The underestimate of shark bycatch in Korean tuna longline fishery was significant because it was general practice that fishermen on-board did not count the discarded shark as a catch.

The circle hook experiments were conducted to compare the catch rates of target and bycatch species between J hook and circle hooks in the tuna longline fishery of the eastern Pacific Ocean between 1˚48'S-7˚00'S and 142˚00'-149˚13'W from July 15 to August 12, 2005. In the target species group no significant differences among 3 types hook, between size 4.0 traditional tuna hooks(J-4) and size 15 circle hooks(C15), and between C15 and size 18 circle hooks(C18) were revealed, but significant differences were found between J-4 and C18. In the bycatch species group significant differences were found among 3 types hook, between J 4 and C15, and between J-4 and C18, but no significant differences were revealed between C15 and C18. Large circle hook(C18) had the lowest catch rate for tunas and for other fishes, and the small circle hook(C15) had lowest rate for billfishes and sharks. The length distributions for bigeye tuna are very similar for the 3 hook types. There were very slight differences in length size between hook types in the bycatch species.