Researching and estimating the ecological characteristics of target fish species is crucial for fisheries resource management. The results of these estimates significantly influence stock assessments and management reference points such as size limit and closed seasons. Recently, ecological characteristics have been changing due to overfishing, climate change, and marine pollution, making continuous estimation and monitoring essential. This study analyzed the ecological changes in small yellow croaker (Larimichthys polyactis) resources in Korea over 24 years (2000-2023) using biological data (growth and gonad traits). By estimating the annual length-weight relationship and length at maturity (L50 and L95), we interpreted the numerical trends of early maturation due to resource depletion. The parameter b of the length-weight relationship, indicating the nutritional status of the resources, showed a slight increase over the years, suggesting relatively good nutritional status (b > 3.0) during most periods. Trend analysis between length at maturity and biomass indicated that as biomass decreased, maturity length also decreased.

In the last five decades, there has been a consistent decline in the total catch of fisheries in the Korean jurisdiction since the peak in 1986. The decline in catch slowed and slightly rebounded in the 2000s, but changed back to a decline in the 2010s. As indicators that can identify changes in the marine ecosystem, trophic level (TL), biodiversity index (H'), and the ratio between pelagic fish and demersal fish (P/D) were analyzed by each local marine ecosystem. There were some different changes in each local marine ecosystem, but the mean TL and H' decreased and P/D increased in general in Korean waters. Demersal fish, which were dominant in the 1970s and 1980s, declined, and small pelagic fish and cephalopods have dominantly changed since the 1990s. However, these changes are not simple, and they are fluctuating in complex ways relating to each marine ecosystem and the timing. It is believed that changes in marine ecosystems in Korean waters are likely caused by a combination of fisheries and climate change. The ecosystem indicators reflected a change in the total catch, a sharp drop in catch of demersal fish, and increasing catch of pelagic fish since the mid-1980s.

In this study, the Bayesian state-space model was used for the stock assessment of the Blackfin flounder. In addition, effective measures for the resource management were presentedwith the analysis on the effectiveness of fisheries management plans. According to the result of the analysis using the Bayesian state-space model, the main biometric value of Blackfin flounder was analyzed as 1,985 tons for maximum sustainable yield (MSY), 23,930 tons for carrying capacity (K), 0.000007765 for catchability coefficient (q) and 0.31 for intrinsic growth (r). Also the evaluation on the biological effect of TAC was done. The result showed that the Blackfin flounder biomass will be kept at 14,637 tons 20 years later given the present TAC volume of 1,761 tons. If the Blackfin flounder TAC volume is set to 1,600 tons, the amount of biomass will increase to 16,252 tons in the future. Lastly, the biological effectiveness of the policy to reduce fishing effort was assessed. The result showed that the Blackfin flounder biomass will be maintained at 13,776 tons if the current fishing efforts (currently hp) level is set and maintained. If the fishing effort is reduced by 20%, it will increase to 17,091 tons in the future. The analysis on the economic effect of TAC showed that NPV will be the lowest at 1,486,410 won in 2038, 20 years after the establishment of 2,500 tons of TAC volume. If the TAC volume is set at 2,000 tons, NPV was estimated to be the highest at 2,206,522,000 won. In addition, the analysis on the economic effect of the policy to reduce the amount of fishing effort found that NPV will be 2,235,592,000 won in 2038, 20 years after maintaining the current level of fishing effort. If the fishing effort is increased by 10%, NPV will be the highest at 2,257,575 won even thoughthe amount of biomass will be reduced.

This study is aimed to take a stock assessment of blackthroat seaperch Doederleinia seaperch regarding the fishing effort of large-powered Danish Seine Fishery and Southwest Sea Danish Seine Fishery. For the assessment, the state-space model was implemented and the standardized catch per unit effort (CPUE) of large powered Danish Seine Fishery and Southwest Sea Danish Seine Fishery which is necessary for the model was estimated with generalized linear model (GLM). The model was adequate for stock assessment because its r-square value was 0.99 and root mean square error (RMSE) value was 0.003. According to the model with 95% confidence interval, maximum sustainable yield (MSY) of Blackthroat seaperch is from 2,634 to 6,765 ton and carrying capacity (K) is between 33,180 and 62,820. Also, the catchability coefficient (q) is between 2.14E-06 and 3.95E-06 and intrinsic growth rate (r) is between 0.31 and 0.72.

The purpose of this study is to estimate potential yield (PY) for Korean west coast fisheries using the holistic production method (HPM). HPM involves the use of surplus production models to apply input data of catch and standardized fishing efforts. HPM compared the estimated parameters of the surplus production from four different models: the Fox model, CYP model, ASPIC model, and maximum entropy model. The PY estimates ranged from 174,232 metric tons (mt) using the CYP model to 238,088 mt using the maximum entropy model. The highest coefficient of determination (R2), the lowest root mean square error (RMSE), and the lowest Theil’s U statistic (U) for Korean west coast fisheries were obtained from the maximum entropy model. The maximum entropy model showed relatively better fits of data, indicating that the maximum entropy model is statistically more stable and accurate than other models. The estimate from the maximum entropy model is regarded as a more reasonable estimate of PY. The quality of input data should be improved for the future study of PY to obtain more reliable estimates.

Yield-per-recruit (YPR) analysis is used to provide management guidance for the efficient use of a fish cohort. However, the individual fish price per unit weight of small yellow croaker (Larimichthys polyactis) or hairtail (Trichiurus lepturus) increases dramatically by size in Korea. Therefore, age-based production value-per-recruit (PPR) analysis has recently been developed (Zhang et al., 2014). Since age determination requires a substantial amount of money and time and it is even impossible for some fish species, it is difficult to obtain age information to apply the age-based PPR model. Thus, we attempted to develop an alternative method, which uses length data rather than age information, called the length-based PPR analysis. The results revealed that length-based PPR analysis was much more conservative for stock management than the YPR analysis. Furthermore, the PPR analysis was more economically beneficial than the YPR analysis, which can prevent the fish stock from the economic overfishing. In conclusion, the length-based PPR analysis could be a proper approach for stock assessment in the case that the individual fish price per unit weight increases dramatically by size, and this analysis is useful to obtain vital management parameters under data-deficient situation when traditional stock assessment methods are not applicable.

Yield per recruit model is the most popular method for fisheries stock assessment. However, stock assessment using yield per recruit model can lead to recruitment overfishing as this model only considers the maximum yield per recruit without spawning biomass for reproduction. For this reason, spawning biomass per recruit model which reveals variations of spawning stock biomass per fishing mortality (F) and age at first capture (tc) is considered as more proper method for stock assessment. There are mainly two methods for spawning biomass per recruit model known as age specific selectivity method and knife– edged selectivity method. In the knife–edged selectivity method, the spawning biomass per recruit has been often calculated using biomass per recruit value by multiplying the maturity ratio of the recruited age. But the maturity ratio in the previous method was not considered properly in previous studies. Therefore, a new method of the knife–edged selectivity model was suggested in this study using a weighted average of the maturity ratio for ages from the first capture to the lifespan. The optimum fishing mortality in terms of F35% which was obtained from the new method was compared to the old method for small yellow croaker stock in Korea. The value of F35% using the new knife–edged selectivity model was 0.302/year and the value using the old model was 0.349/year. However, the value of F35% using the age specific selectivity model was estimated as 0.320/year which was closer to the value from the new knife–edged selectivity model.

This study was performed to estimate optimum fishing mortality (F) and the age at first capture (tc) for small yellow croaker in Korean waters. We first estimated optimum F and tc using traditional yield-per-recruit (YPR) analysis, and the results were 0.8/year and 2.5 years old, respectively. However, the individual fish price per unit weight of small yellow croaker in Korea increases dramatically by size. Thus, we developed an alternative method, which is called as production value-per-recruit (PPR) analysis. We developed two types of the PPR analysis, that is, the discrete function and the continuous function method. We estimated optimum F and tc using the two types of the PPR analysis and compared the results. The optimum F and tc from the discrete function method, were 0.3/year and 5.0 years old, respectively, while those from the continuous function method were 0.5/year and 3.5 years old, respectively. These PPR estimates were much more conservative for the stock management than the traditional YPR analysis, which can prevent the fish stock from the economic overfishing. As a result, the PPR analysis could be more proper approach for stock assessment in the case that the individual fish price per unit weight increases dramatically by size like small yellow croaker in Korea.