This study aimed to measure the in-situ target strength (TS) of the moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) using a 200 kHz scientific echo sounder in a natural coastal environment. The acoustic survey was conducted in the coastal waters of Soho Port, Yeosu, Korea, from June 4 to 5, 2024. TS measurements were performed by installing the transducer in both horizontal and vertical orientations, and the TS distribution characteristics were analyzed. The measured TS values ranged from -89.8 to -64.8 dB in the horizontal direction and from -90.0 to -59.1 dB in the vertical direction, showing no significant difference between detection orientations (p<0.05). Additionally, a bell diameter-wet weight relationship for Aurelia coerulea was derived based on the specimens collected at the survey site. The empirical TS model proposed by Mutlu (1996) was applied to estimate TS values using the measured morphological data, and the results exhibited a similar trend to the field-measured TS distribution. These findings provide fundamental data for acoustic monitoring and stock assessment of jellyfish populations in natural environments.

This study investigates the opening force required for shucking farmed oysters to support the development of automated oyster-shucking systems. Oysters sourced from Yeosu and Tongyeong were tested for shell length, width, height, total weight, meat weight, and opening force. Results showed an average opening force of 8.1 kgf for one-year-old Yeosu oysters, 7.4 kgf for one-year-old Tongyeong oysters, and 8.7 kgf for two-year-old Tongyeong oysters, with correlations to shell width, height, and meat weight depending on production sea area and growing age. These findings highlight production sea area and growing age-based differences in oyster characteristics, contributing foundational data to advancing automation in oyster shucking.

Climate change has led to a significant increase in jellyfish populations globally, causing various problems. For power plants that use nearby seawater for cooling, the intrusion of jellyfish into intake systems can block the flow, leading to reduced output or even shutdowns. This issue is compounded by other small marine organisms like shrimp and salps, making it urgent to develop solutions to prevent their intrusion. This study addressed the problem using the BioSonics DT-X 120 kHz scientific fish finder to conduct preliminary tank experiments. We also deployed underwater acoustic and camera buoys around the intake of nuclear power plant, utilizing a bidirectional communication system between sea and land to collect data. Data collection took place from July 31, 2023 to August 1, 2023. While harmful organisms such as jellyfish and salps were not detected, we successfully gathered acoustic data on small fish measuring backscattering strength (SV). Analysis showed that fish schools were more prominent in the evening than during the day. The highest fish distribution was observed at 3:30 AM on July 31 with an SV of -44.8 dB while the lowest was at 12:30 PM on the same day with an SV of –63.4 dB. Additionally, a solar-powered system was used to enable real-time data acquisition from sea buoys with smooth communication between the land server and the offshore buoy located 1.8 km away. This research developed an acoustic-based monitoring system for detecting harmful organisms around the intake and provided foundational data for preventing marine organism intrusion and planning effective measures.

In this study, the seasonal distribution was surveyed using acoustic in the coastal waters around nuclear power plants. Acoustic surveys were conducted in June, September, December 2022, and March 2023 in the coastal waters of Uljin-gun. According to the results of this study, zooplankton were distributed at the depths from 0 m to 50 m in the waters around nuclear power plants. Zooplankton appeared in summer (June), autumn (September), and spring (March). In the survey area, fish were distributed at the depths from 25 m to 190 m, appearing in the summer (June), autumn (September), winter (December) and spring (March). The SV of zooplankton appearing in the survey area ranged from -98.0 dB to -78.0 dB, and it exhibited a one-class in the frequency distribution of SV. The SV of fish appearing in the survey area ranged from -36.0 dB to -35.0 dB and -98.0 dB to -53.0 dB, and it exhibited two-class in the frequency distribution of SV.

In this study, we aimed to determine the seasonal distribution and biomass of fish in Samcheok marine ranching area (MRA) of Republic of Korea using the scientific echosounder. Fish trap and gillnets were used to identify fish species in the survey area, and dB-difference method was used to estimation the spatio-temporal distribution and density of fish. The results showed that the dominant species in Samcheok marine ranching area were Chelidonichthys spinosus, Sebastes inermis, Hexagrammos otakii and Tribolodon hakonensis. The spatio-temporal distribution of fish showed that fish had a relatively higher distribution at night than during the day. In addition, the density of fish by season was highest at night in July at 34.22 g/m 2 and lowest in April at 0.42 g/m 2 .

This study was investigated in order to find composition and density of fisheries resource using bottom trawl in April, July, August, and November 2022 in the East China Sea. The average density of fisheries resource was estimated using the swept area method. As a result, 35 species were collected from the East China Sea. These included 21 fishes, six crustaceans, six cephalopods and two echinoderms. Seasonally, the average density of crustacean individuals per unit area were highest in November (692.1 inds./km 2 ), while cephalopod individuals per unit area were highest in August (39.4 inds./km 2 ). The average density of fish individuals per unit area were highest in August at 355.0 (inds./km 2 ).

This study developed and evaluated a load cell-based automatic weighing system for the automated harvesting of laver (Porphyra tenera) in seaweed aquaculture. The current manual harvesting process was compared with the load cell-based automated system, and quantitative measurements of time, distance, and weight were conducted. The results demonstrated that the load cell-based system reduced the unloading time and increased the throughput compared to the manual method. In addition, statistical analysis confirmed that there was no significant difference from the mean in the weight measurement obtained using the load cell-based system. Based on these findings, the load cell-based automatic weighing system holds potential for efficient production and transactions in laver cultivation, contributing to cost reduction and improving the quality of life for aquaculture workers.

Laver aquaculture, which occupies a large proportion in the aquaculture industry in Korea, is still highly dependent on human labor. Therefore, it is necessary to study the development of an automatic system to improve the working environment and increase the efficiency of aquaculture production systems. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the economic feasibility of an improved system in a study for the loading-unloading and automatic weighing systems in laver aquaculture industry. Economic analysis of the developed unloading and automatic weighing system were implemented under various conditions to calculate more accurate benefits and costs. As a result of this study, the economic feasibility was found to be very high in the three models: net present value (NPV), benefit-cost ratio (B/C), internal rate of return (IRR). Moreover, the results of sensitivity analysis showed that the economical efficiency of the automatic loading, unloading, and weighing system in laver aquaculture was very high.

Sensory evaluation of shucking pressure, pressure holding time, seeding method, difference in full shucking rate in the aquaculture area and shucking oyster was performed using an ultra-high pressure oyster shucking machine. The reaching time for each target pressure is 2.2-2.4 MPa/sec in the range of 180 MPa to 240 MPa. had a rate of pressure rise. There was a difference of 0.5-1.7℃ in the range of 24-27℃ in the seawater temperature before and after the pressure treatment inside the pressure vessel, but there was no specific increase or decrease in seawater temperature. When only the shucking pressure is increased without the pressure holding time, the critical shucking pressure at which the oyster shell is opened and the flesh is peeled in the range of 200 to 220 MPa. When the critical shucking pressure is reached, the oyster sample in the closed vessel is expected to be shucked by about 40%. If there is no pressure holding time when judged only by full shucking, an increase in pressure of about 1.5 MPa is required to further shuck 3% of the oyster population. The oyster samples cultivated in the south coast of Korea were subject to full shucking under the conditions of 220 MPa shucking pressure and two minutes (120 seconds) of pressure holding time, and the difference in the pressure of the oysters according to the oyster seeding method and the farming area was minute. Finally, the condition of 220 MPa of shucking pressure and three minutes of pressure holding time was the best at 1.52 when the result of the sensory evaluation performed manually was set to 1.0. Next was 1.4 under the conditions of 220 MPa of shucking pressure and one minute of pressure holding time (60 seconds), and 1.3 under the condition of 220 MPa and two minutes of pressure holding time (120 seconds). Therefore, it is considered that the most desirable shucking conditions, considering the efficiency and sensory evaluation results, are the conditions of 220 MPa shucking pressure and two to three minutes of pressure holding time.