After the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement (UNFSA) came into effect, international cooperation through Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) was required, and each RFMO established and adopted the Conservation and Management Measure (CMM) for the regional Observer Programs to collect data on fishing activities and biological information and to monitor compliance with its CMMs. The observer coverage required by RFMO is set differently for each organization, ranging from 5% to 100%. In addition, tuna-RFMOs recommend increasing observer coverage in longline fisheries by at least 20% for reliable quantitative analysis of not only target species but also bycatch species and ecologically related species such as sharks, seabirds, sea turtles, and marine mammals. Therefore, in this study, we discussed ways to improve the national observer programs of Korean distant water fisheries that should be addressed in the future to respond to the RFMO trends.

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.

Fishing 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 2014. Changes in fishing ground and correlation between marine environmental factors and fishing patterns were investigated using Oceanographic index. The proportion of unassociated set was higher than that of associated set. The catch proportion of yellowfin was higher in the unassociated set, while that of skipjack and bigeye was higher in the associated set. Due to vessels, fishing gears and Korean captains’ high-level of skills in fishing technology optimized for the unassociated set and preference of large fishes, especially large yellowfin tuna, it showed unique fishing characteristics focusing on the unassociated set. As for fishing distributions of Korean tuna purse seine fishery and impacts of oceanographic conditions on the fishery, the main fishing ground was concentrated on the area of 5°N~10°S, 140°E~180° through the decades. When stronger El-nino occurred, the range of fishing ground tended to expand and main fishing ground moved to the eastern part of western and central Pacific Ocean. During this season, yellowfin tuna had high CPUE and catch proportion of yellowfin tuna in the eastern part also increased. As for the proportion of fishing effort by set type, proportion of log associated set was high during El-nino season while that of FAD associated set was high during La-nina season.

The feeding habits of the Pacific bluefin tuna, Thunnus orientalis were examined based on the stomach contents of 330 specimens caught by offshore large purse seine fishery in the southern sea of Korea, 2011. The size of Pacific bluefin tuna used in this study ranged from 34.1 to 67.3 cm in fork length (FL). The percentage of empty stomachs was 41.8%. The main prey items were Pisces and Cephalopoda based on percentage IRI (index of relative importance). The main fish preys were Trachurus japonicus, Bregmaceros japonicus, Engraulis japonicus, and Cephalopoda were Todarodes pacificus, Loligo edulis, Watasenia scintillans. T. orientalis showed ontogenetic change in diet composition. Although Pisces dominated the diet of all length classes the portion of Cephalopoda was relatively higher in size between 40 and 50 cm other than length classes. In terms of seasonal variation in feeding habits, Pisces was the main prey group in all seasons, but Cephalopoda was also frequently consumed during spring and autumn based on %IRI.

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.

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.

Coastal fisheries in Korean waters have highly complexity with a variety of fishing gears, and scale of those fisheries is smaller than that of offshore fisheries. As a result, important spawning and nursery grounds for many species of fish has been destroyed. The pragmatic ecosystem-based approach was developed for the assessment of fisheries resources in Korean waters by Zhang et al. (2009; 2010). As for the species risk index (SRI), common squid caught by coastal gillnet in the Uljin region had the highest risk. As for the fisheries risk index (FRI), coastal gillnet in the Uljin coastal waters had the highest risk. For the common squid which had the highest SRI, resources management strategies must be established such as catch prohibition of length and period with TAC. For the coastal gillnet in the Uljin region which had the highest FRI, it is judged to need management plans for conserving biodiversity as reducing the catch of non-target species and discards. Also to protect existing habitat, illegal fishery should be prohibited, and fishing gears should be designed in the environmental-friendly way considering when fishing gears lost.

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.

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%.

2007년 4월부터 5월까지 시험조사선을 이용하여 동해의 해양성 조류 분포조사를 실시하였다. 조사 기간 동안 동해 연안에서 총 10과 23종 1,379개체의 조류가 관찰되었으며, 이 중 6과 14종 1,324개체는 해양성 조류였다. 해양성 조류의 발견율은 2.5 birds km-2였다. 가장 높은 발견율을 보인 종은 슴새(Calonectris leucomelas)로 전체 관찰개체수의 74.5%를 차지하였다. 이밖에 발견된 조류 중 1% 이상을 차지한 주요종은 바다쇠오리(Synthliboramphus antiquus)(8.3%), 아비(Gavia stellata)(5.0%), 제비갈매기(Sterna hirundo)(2.1%), 회색머리아비(Gavia pacifica) (2.0%), 괭이갈매기 (Larus crassirostris)(1.1%) 순으로 나타났다. 해양성 조류의 개체수는 동해 중남부 해역인 36˚N~37˚N 사이에서 가장 많았으나 종다양도 지수(H')는 동해 남부 해역인 35˚N~36˚N에서 가장 높은 값을 보였다. 발견된 대부분의 종은 해안선에서부터 멀어질수록 발견율이 줄어들었다. 발견된 주요종 이외에도 뿔쇠오리(Synthliboramphus wumizusume), 흰부리아비(Gavia adamsii), 쇠부리슴새(Puffinus tenuirostris), 붉은발슴새(Puffinus carneipes)와 같은 희귀종을 관찰하였다. 본 조사와 동시에 행해진 밍크고래(Balaenoptera acutorostrata) 목시조사의 자료를 통해 볼 때 슴새의 분포 패턴과 밍크고래의 분포 패턴 사이에서 높은 상관관계를 나타냈다. 아비류(Gavia spp.)의 분포는 공간적으로 분리되는 양상을 보였다.

Dual frequency acoustic pinger(AP) was manufactured to reduce study effect by long-term use of developed single frequency AP to prevent cetacean bycatch. Directivity characteristic of transducer was the omnidirectional pattern which showed less than ±3dB the change range of sensitivity on the beam pattern of right and left. Source power level(SPL) was 1384311pa with epoxy window before casing however after casing 1170B11Pa at sea. Dual frequency Af was tested to identify the avoidance behavior of bottlenose dolphin by its working. However the efficiency of dual frequency AP about the study effect was verified experiment repeatedly using single and dual frequency AP.

한국 귀신고래 수중명음을 캘리포니아 귀신고래 수중명음과 비교하기 위하여, 먼저 캘리포니아 귀신고래의 수중명음을 분석하고 그것을 이전의 결과들과 비교, 고찰한 결과는 다음과 같다. 1. 귀신고래의 수중명음의 약 50%를 차지하고 있는 저주파로 울리는 소리(low frequency rumble)의 주파수는 최대 654Hz까지 변동하였고, 지속시간은 평균 570msec로 나타나, 이전 결과들과 비교하여 저주파로 울리는 소리의 주파수 변동범위는 일치하는 것으로 판단되었다. 2. 귀신고래의 체내 공기가 체외로 방출되면서 발생하는 것으로 추정되는 “꼴꼴꼴”거리는 소리(bubble type sounds)와 “똑똑”노크하는 듯한 소리(knocks)의 주파수 변동범위는 각각 24~1029Hz와 10~1291Hz였으며, 지속시간의 평균은 각각 1100msec와 1364msec를 나타내었다. “꼴꼴꼴”거리는 소리는 주파수 변동범위와 지속시간 모두 이전 결과들보다 높게 나타났으나, “똑똑”노크하는 듯한 소리는 거의 일치하는 것으로 나타났다. 3. 그 외 “띵”하는 소리(bong)의 주파수 변동범위는 34~213Hz이였고, 지속시간의 평균은 84msec이였다. 그리고 펄스(pulses)의 주파수 변동범위는 75~360Hz, 지속시간 평균은 873msec이였으며, “찍찍”거리는 소리(chirps)의 수중명음의 중심주파수는 120~200Hz, 지속시간은 80msec를 나타내었다.

We studied behaviour pattern of anchovy (Engraulis japonicus) shoal by a method of shoal echo integration and tested species identification by a method of artificial neural network using the acoustic data collected in the East China Sea in March 1994 and in the southern coastal waters of the East Sea of Korea in March 1995. Between areas, frequency distribution of 10 shoal descriptors was different, which showed characteristics of shoal behaviour in size, bathymetric position and acoustic strength. The range and mean of shoal size distribution in length and height was wider and bigger in the southern coastal waters of the East Sea than in the East China Sea. Relative shoal size of China Sea. Fractal dimension of shoal was almost same in both areas. Mean volume reverbration index of shoal was 3 dB higher in the southern coastal waters of the East Sea than in the East China Sea. The depth layer of shoal distribution was related to bottom depth in the southern coastal waters of the East Sea, while it was between near surface and central layer in the East China Sea. Principal component analysis of shoal descriptors showed the correlation between shoal size and acoustic strength which was higher in the southern coastal waters of the East Sea, than in the East China Sea. Correlation was also found among the bathymetric positions of shoal to some degree higher in the southern coastal waters of the East Sea than in the East China Sea. The anchovy shoal of two areas was identified by artificial neural network. The contribution factor index (Cio) of the shoal descriptors between two areas were almost identical feature. The shoal volume reverberation index (Rv) was showed the highest contribution to the species identification, while shoal length and shoal height showed relatively high negative contribution to the species identification.