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.

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.