In order to manage and rebuild fishery resources, the fishing effort should be controlled effectively. Especially in the setting up of the proper level of fishing efforts, economic standards as well as biological standards must be carefully considered to promote the sustainable and economically viable development of fisheries. This study is aimed to estimate optimal fishing effort of giant octopus by combo fishing which uses longline in Gangwon with statistical data. The result showed that current fishing effort is 28% higher than EMEY. Unit fishing cost for each voyage will be 27% lower and unit fishing profit will be 17% higher than the current situation when the fishing effort meets EMEY. Although current fishing effort is similar to the EMSY, current catching is 16% higher than MSY and 22% higher than MEY.

The age and growth of pointhead flounder, Hippoglossoides pinetorum caught by gill nets was analyzed in this study from March 2015 to July 2017. New annuli were formed in H. pinetorum otoliths annually, and the boundary was set between the opaque and translucent zones from March and April. The relationships between total length (TL) and body weight (BW) were BW = 0.0025 TL3.409 (r2 = 0.9551) for females and BW = 0.0057 TL3.138 (r2 = 0.9163) for males. In this study, the ring of pointhead flounder, H. pinetorum was formed between 3 and 8 for females and between 3 and 6 for males. Total length (TL) and otolith radius (OR) were measured as follows: TL = 7.142 OR + 0.769 (r2 = 0.793) for females and TL = 6.498 OR + 1.706 (r2 = 0.652) for males. The mean distances of first ring (r1) were 0.92 mm and 0.91 mm for females and males respectively. The TLs at the time of annulus formation, back-calculated from the otolith-length relationship by reference to the von Bertalanffy growth curves, were Lt = 43.59 (1-e-0.15(t+0.007)) for females and Lt = 28.13 (1-e-0.26(t+0.006)) for males while the growth between female and male was different.

This study researched the population of ecological characteristics of the goldeyes rockfish Sebasetes thompsoni sampled by gill net in the Ulleungdo area from February 2013 to February 2014 in order to assess the current stock status and provide scientific advice for management implementation. The instantaneous coefficient of total mortality (Z) was 0.78/year and the survival rate (S) was 0.459. The instantaneous coefficient of natural mortality (M) was 0.461/year. Based on the estimates of Z and M, the instantaneous coefficient of fishing mortality (F) was 0.318/year. The age at first capture (tc) was 4.41/years. Current Yield-per-recruit (YPR) was 30.83 g, and fishing mortality at maximum YPR (Fmax) and fishing mortality corresponding to 10% of the maximum slope in YPR curve (F0.1) were 3.257/year and 0.673/year, respectively. F35% and F40%, indicating fishing mortalities at 35% and 40% of maximum Spawning biomass-per-recruit (SBPR), were 0.619/year and 0.509/year, respectively. Based on the biological reference points, fishing mortality at overfished threshold yield (FOTY) was calculated as 0.509/year. Current SBPR/SBPRMSY was 1.313 above 1.0, which means ‘not overfishe,’ while current F/FOTY was 0.629 below 1.0, which indicates ‘not overfishing.’ In conclusion, the current status of goldeyes rockfish was located in green zone (i.e., not overfished and not overfishing) according to the revised Kobe plot.

Species composition in the coastal waters off Ulleungdo of Korea were examined based on catches bimonthly collected by trammel net in 2013. A total of 711 individuals and 181.9 Kg were caught and catches were composed of 4 classes 15 orders 27 families 52 species including 44 Pisces, 4 Gastropoda, 3 Cephalopoda, and 1 Echinodermata. The dominant species in biomass were File fish (Thamnaconus modestus), Atka mackerel (Pleurogrammus azonus), and Greenling (Hexagrammos otakii). Data were summarized using hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) to examine similarity in species composition for each month, and community structure in Ulleungdo was divided into two groups. Community structures in February, April and December with low temperature and well-mixed surface water were distinguished from those in June, August and October with high temperature and strong stratification, which could be attributed to temporal changes in dominant species. Atka mackerel and Spear squid mainly caught in February and April, disappearing in June, August and October, and File fish outburst was shown in October. Because the water off Ulleungdo has been under low human pressure, it could be a good case study to elucidate effects of climate change on community structure and ecosystem in the East sea. Continuous surveys and further studies are required to demonstrate migration route and distribution of dominant species and long-term changes in community structure in the water of Ulleungdo.

Maturity and spawning of the giant Pacific octopus, Octopus dofleini was investigated based on the samples collected in the coast of Gangwondo, East Sea, from January to December in 2009. Individuals of mature stage had a higher occurrence rate from February toMay, and gonadosomatic index (GSI) also showed a higher value from February toMay than the other months. For that reason, the spawning period was estimated from February to May with the main spawning period from March to May. The total number of eggs in the fecundity (F) ranged from 9,045 in 11.0 kg (TW) to 148,682 in 16.5 kg (TW), which was proportional to total weight (TW), and the relationship between total weight and fecundity was F=0.185×TW2.238 (R2=0.389). The total weight at 50% group maturity (TW0.5) of female was estimated to be 12.2 kg.