The IUU Fishing Index is composed of 40 indicators. These indicators were grouped by state responsibilities (flag, coastal, port, and general including market) defined in the FAO IPOA-IUU (2001) and then by type into vulnerability, prevalence, and response. A total of 152 coastal nations was surveyed. Korea's total combined IUU Fishing Index was 2.49 in 2019 and 2.91 in 2021, indicating a drop in the ranking to the third worst out of 152 countries followed by China and Russia in 2021. The indicators that increased the IUU fishing risk in 2021 compared to 2019 included seven indicators of prevalence and two indicators of response while those reducing the risk included one prevalence and one response indicator. The IUU Fishing Index revealed that many fisheries observers and monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) practitioners active in the waters of RFMOs jurisdiction where Korean distant water vessels operate have mentioned concerns about the compliance with RFMO conservation measures or fishing practices. It suggested that strengthening management intervention in the fishing sector is needed. The primary tool for management is the MCS system. Given the logistical difficulty of oversight from land, air and at-sea, there is a need to enhance MCS strategies through logbook data, at-sea observer and electronic monitoring program. It also suggested that MSC fisheries certification and fisheries improvement projects, which are widely used for improving fishing sector performance, could contribute to the eradication of IUU fishing and the promotion of sustainable distant water fisheries.

In order to understand characteristics on bycatch of Korean tuna purse seine fishery, especially operations associated with Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) in the Indian Ocean, we conducted analyses related to bycatch by school association type (unassociated school, FAD associated school and log associated school) using the data collected by scientific observers from 2016 to 2018. The FAD used by Korean tuna purse seine fishery in the Indian Ocean was a drifting FAD, which belongs to non-entangling FADs according to the category proposed by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF). The target species of Korean tuna purse seine fishery are skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tunas, accounting for 99% of the total catch. The ratio of bycatch was 0.97% in total catch and the discard accounted for less than 1%, indicating that most catch was retained on board. In terms of bycatch ratio by school association type, it accounted for 0.12% for unassociated school, 1.09% for FAD associated school and 1.25% for log associated school. As for the catch proportion of shark species by school association type, it accounted for 0.01% for unassociated school, 0.11% for FAD associated school and 0.10% for log associated school, which showed that unassociated school type was the lowest to affect bycatch of non-target and shark species. Given the proportion of bycatch compositions, however, it is considered that FAD associated school of Korean tuna purse seine fishery has less caught bycatch species of non-target and shark, compared to other fleets operating in the Indian Ocean.

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between international oil price as a fuel cost in overseas fisheries and skipjack tuna price as a part of main products in overseas fisheries using monthly time series data from 2008 to 2017. The study also tried to analyze the change of fishing profits by fuel cost. For a time series analysis, this study conducted both the unit-root test for stability of data and the Johansen cointegration test for long-term equilibrium relations among variables. In addition, it used not only the Granger causality test to examine interactions among variables, but also the Vector Auto Regressive (VAR) model to estimate statistical impacts among variables used in the model. Results of this study are as follows. First, each data on variables was not found to be stationary from the ADF unit-root test and long-term equilibrium relations among variables were not found from a Johansen cointegration test. Second, the Granger causality test showed that the international oil prices would directly cause changes in skipjack tuna prices. Third, the VAR model indicated that the posterior t-2 period change of international oil price would have an statistically significant effect on changes of skipjack tuna prices. Finally, fishing profits from skipjack would be decreased by 0.06% if the fuel cost increases by 1%.

The feeding habits of Pacific bluefin tuna, Thunnus orientalis were analyzed using samples by large purse seine fishery in Korean waters from 2012 to 2017. The number of samples was 1,274 and the fork-length (FL) ranged from 34.6 to 218.0 cm. According to %IRI, the Important main prey items of immature individuals (below 91.4 cm in FL) were Pisces, Cephalopoda and Euphausiacea and those of mature individuals were Cephalopoda and Pisces. T. orientalis showed ontogenetic changes in prey item that Pisces was dominated in size class of 30-89 cm (FL), Cephalopoda in 90-179 cm (FL), and Pisces above 180 cm. As for seasonal changes in prey item, Cephalopoda was dominant in spring and Pisces was dominant in summer, autumn and winter. %F, %N, %W and %IRI cluster analysis divided area into three groups: Group A was dominated by Pisces; Group B was dominated by Cephalopoda, and Group C was dominated by Euphausiacea.

The reproduction characteristics of hagfish Eptatretus burgeri were examined using individuals caught in the South Sea of Korea. The spawning season and size at minimum sexual maturity of this species were characterized based on a gonad-somatic index (GSI) and monthly variation egg size (long axis). From monthly variation of GSI, the spawning season was estimated to be from August to September. Developing eggs larger than 10 mm were found in March, and the largest egg size was found in July. The first spawning length was 34.2 cm TL. Batch fecundity ranged from 13 to 117 eggs for hagfish sized from 34.2 cm TL to 77.0 cm TL, respectively, and increased linearly with total length.

Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) has been mostly caught by the Korean offshore large purse seine fishery in Korean waters. The annual catch of Pacific bluefin tuna caught by the offshore large purse seine fishery in Korean waters showed less than 1,000 mt until the 1990s except for 1997. The catch sharply increased to 2,401 mt in 2000 and recorded the highest of 2,601 mt in 2003, but the catch has generally decreased with a fluctuation thereafter. The main fishing ground of Pacific bluefin tuna of this fishery is formed around Jeju Island. However, it expanded to the Yellow Sea, the coastal of Busan, and the East Sea, which depends on the migration patterns of Pacific bluefin tuna by season. The CPUE standardization of Pacific bluefin tuna was conducted using Generalized Linear Model (GLM) to assess the proxy of the abundance index. The data used for the GLM were catch (weight), effort (number of hauls), catch ratio of Pacific bluefin tuna, moon phase by year, quarter and area. The standardized CPUE from 2004 to 2011, except for 2003 and 2010, showed a steady trend, and then increased until 2014. The CPUE in 2015 decreased, and in 2016 was higher than that in 2015. The result of GLM suggests that the effect of the catch ratio of Pacific bluefin tuna is the largest factor affecting the nominal CPUE.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the efficiency of distant-water longline fishing vessels in the Pacific Ocean and the gap in efficiencies among individual vessels. In order to estimate the efficiency, the dependent variable is set as an amount of catch and independent variables include number of crew, number of hooks, number of vessel size, and vessels engine power associated with fishing activities of distant water longline fisheries. Analytical result was shown as follows: first, the average efficiency of distant-water longline fishing vessels in the Pacific Ocean was found to be 94%. Second, the number of hooks were found to be statistically significant in each input variable and the appropriate control of the number of hooks would be expected to have a positive effect on the efficiency. Third, the relationship between the age of a vessel and the efficiency was not found statistically.

Tuna purse seine fishery in the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) has been rapidly developed since early 1980s due to massive investment of major distant water fishing nations, and catch by purse seine fishery operating in the WCPO accounts for nearly half of the world’s tuna total catch. As fishing efficiency is reflected by not only improving of individual vessel’s capacity but also increasing number of active vessel, it is essential to understand vessel capacity for reliable assessment result on how fishery affects stock status of target species. In this study, fishing efficiency was analyzed by main factors which are representative of vessel capacity using fishing data and vessel information related to Korean tuna purse seine fishery operating in the western and central Pacific Ocean from 1992 to 2014. It showed that fishing efficiency of vessel tends to be higher when having larger vessel tonnage, higher engine power, lower vessel age and larger length of vessel. As for fishing efficiency by set type, CPUE of associated set with floating objects was generally higher than that of free school set, and CPUE of free school set seemed to have a greater effect on engine power and vessel age compared to other factors.

The WCPFC CMMs related to tropical tunas have been strongly restricting fishing capacity and operating activities of main fisheries, especially purse seine fishery. In terms of changes in fishing trend by implementing relevant measures of FAD set, the number of FAD set by Korean purse seine fleet showed a decreasing pattern with the lowest level of FAD set proportion among major distant water fishing nations. With regards to the FAD closure, there was no significant change in fishing effort but a drop in catch, especially bigeye tuna during the period of FAD closure. Moreover, it showed closely similar trends between the number of FAD set and bigeye tuna catch. In terms of measures related to the high sea area including a ban on fishing on the HSP and limitation of fishing days on the high sea by flag state, proportions of catch and effort on the high sea had sharply declined after implementing those measures. As relevant measures are expected to be strengthened, it should pay attention to change of coastal nations policies and focus on improving fishing efficiency of unassociated school set with multi-pronged efforts.

To estimate the movement of Pacific cod Gadus macrocephalus in the Korean Southeast Sea, three type tags were used. A total of 97 Pacific cod were tagged and released with either archival tags or conventional tags. Of these releases, commercial fishermen recovered thirteen conventional tags, and five of seven pop-up tags transmitted data to Argos satellites. Pacific cod began to move towards East Sea after release, and they spent most of their time at depths of 100 to 300m, water temperatures of 0.8 to 14.0°C. However, geographical ranges of their movement limited to area around the southern East Sea. Pacific cod attached conventional tag were recaptured near the release site(Jinhae Bay: main spawning ground) about one or two year after release. Data obtained from tagging investigations suggest that they migrated annually from spawning ground to habtat of the Korean Southeast Sea.

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.

A preliminary study on species composition of a Korean purse seine catch landed at cannery was conducted in April 2011. In the cannery, all tuna catch are sliding through a sorting grid panel that filters and drops fish in the buckets by size class (above 9kg, 3.4-9kg, 1.8-3.4kg, 1.4-1.8kg and below 1.4kg). In cannery processing, species sorting was made for skipjack tuna and yellowfin tuna only from catches greater than 3.4kg during filtering but not for bigeye tuna because of difficulties in species identification between bigeye tuna and yellowfin tuna under frozen state. As no species identification was carried out for catch groups less than 3.4kg in the cannery process, this study focused on sorting out skipjack tuna and yellowfin tuna from these groups and then identifying bigeye tuna from all size groups of yellowfin tuna. Using the mixture rate of species obtained from the samples taken, species composition of the landed catch was estimated. As results, cannery research showed 95% for skipjack tuna, 3% for yellowfin tuna and 2% for bigeye tuna in species composition, while vessel logbook data represented 96%, 3% and 1% for skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna and bigeye tuna, respectively. The proportion of bigeye tuna identified in the cannery was slightly higher than shown in logbook data by 1%.

To investigate the catches of jack mackerel fishery, a series of fishing experiments was conducted in the high seas of the southeastern Pacific Ocean (30˚S-38˚S, 82˚W-95˚W) during the period of 9 August to 18 December, 2003 by commercial fishing vessel and research vessel. The number of 205 tows fishing was carried out in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. The total catch was 1,988 ton and CPUE was 2.4 ton/hour. CPUE showed high values in the frontal zone during the survey. Main target species caught from the experimental fishing were the jack mackerel, Trachurus murphyi (98.1%) and chub mackerel, Scomber japonicus (1.9%) as bycatch. Body length of the jack mackerel was different between female and male. The high mean catch per unit effort of jack mackerel was showed when the fishing ground of jack mackerel fishery was over the 110˚W in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. But the fluctuation of the catch per unit effort in the western part of fishing ground was not matched with those year. Reliable physical and oceanographical information will be useful for the efficiency of fishing activity. According to the result of monthly movement of center of fishing ground, the fishing activity of jack mackerel fishery was performed northward in the southeastern Pacific Ocean as time passes.

Patagonian toothfish(Dissostichus eleginoides) was investigated in the southeastern Atlantic Ocean during the period of 19 March to 7 July 2007 by commercial bottom longliners. The number of 116 hauls were carried out individually in this study area by two bottom longliners during 111 days. The total catches were 89,559kg(9.91kg/100hooks) and 66,758kg(7.38kg/100hooks), respectively. Most Patagonian toothfishes were caught on the 46-48˚S, 6-11˚E of southeastern Atlantic Ocean. Patagonian toothfish comprised 67.01-92.49%(by weight) of the catches in the southeastern Atlantic Ocean. No Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) was caught during the surveys. Patagonian toothfish was found throughout the experimental area, but the density was considerably greater in the layer of 1,300-1,900m, where 49.88% of the fishes were caught. Smaller fishes were generally distributed to the shallow waters and larger fish were more frequently caught with the depth. Mean size of Patagonian toothfish increased with depth of capture. Accordingly economically profitable fishing activities for the Patagonian toothfish fishery requires an understanding of the size distribution of the Patagonian toothfish by depth.