Acoustic surveys were conducted in the seas surround the South Korea (South Sea A, South Sea B (waters around the Jeju Island), West Sea and East Sea) in spring and autumn in 2016. First, the vertical and horizontal distributions of fisheries resources animals were examined. In most cases vertical acoustic biomass was high in surface water and mid-water layers other than South Sea A in autumn and West Sea. The highest vertical acoustic biomass showed at the depth of 70-80 m in the South Sea A in spring (274.4 m2/nmi2) and the lowest one was 10-20 m in the West Sea in autumn (0.4 m2/nmi2). With regard to the horizontal distributions of fisheries resources animals, in the South Sea A, the acoustic biomass was high in eastern and central part of the South Sea and the northeast of Jeju Island (505.4-4099.1 m2/nmi2) in spring while it was high in eastern South Sea and the coastal water of Yeosu in autumn (1046.9-2958.3 m2/nmi2). In the South Sea B, the acoustic biomass was occurred high in the southern and western seas of Jeju Island in spring (201.0-1444.9 m2/nmi2) and in the southern of Jeju Island in autumn (203.7-1440.9 m2/nmi2). On the other hand, the West Sea showed very low acoustic biomass in spring (average NASC of 1.1 m2/nmi2), yet high acoustic biomass in the vicinity of 37 N in autumn (562.6-3764.2 m2/nmi2). The East Sea had high acoustic biomass in the coastal seas of Busan, Ulsan and Pohang in spring (258.7~976.4 m2/nmi2) and of Goseong, Gangneung, Donghae, Pohang and Busan in autumn (267.3-1196.3 m2/nmi2). During survey periods, fish schools were observed only in the South Sea A and the East Sea in spring and the West Sea in autumn. Fish schools in the South Sea A in spring were small size (333.2 ± 763.2 m2) but had a strong SV (–49.5 ± 5.3 dB). In the East Sea, fish schools in spring had low SV (–60.5 ± 14.5 dB) yet had large sizes (537.9 ± 1111.5 m2) and were distributed in the deep water depth (83.5 ± 33.5 m). Fish schools in the West Sea in autumn had strong SV (–49.6 ± 7.4 dB) and large sizes (507.1 ± 941.8 m2). It was the first time for three seas surrounded South Korea to be conducted by acoustic surveys to understand the distribution and aggregation characteristics of fisheries resources animals. The results of this study would be beneficially used for planning a future survey combined acoustic method and mid-water trawling, particularly deciding a survey location, a time period, and a targeting water depth.

We measured the target strength according to the swimming tilt angle and size change for Pacific herring at the frequency of 70 kHz as the basic database in order to estimate its abundance as well as density in the survey area using the hydroacoustical method. The number of the sample used in this study was 14 individuals, and its size distribution by fork length ranged between 20.3 and 29.8 cm and wet weight was measured between 187.6 and 269.9 g. The variation of TS according to the swimming angle (-30~30°) was measured between 10.3 and 18.8 dB in frequency range, the highest value was measured at head-down of Pacific herring in the tilt angle range between 5 and 9 deg. of its swimbladder. The relationship between TS–FL of herring was the same as TS = 20log10 (FL) – 66.79 when its swimming tilt angle in the daytime (3.8 ± 6.0°) and nighttime (-3.2 ± 13.6°), respectively.

Changes in target strength (TS) values of sandfish when sandfish was alive and dead were investigated using ex-situ at120 kHz. TS values measured by tilt angles with ‑50∼+50 degrees showed ranges from ‑71.0 to ‑53.3 dB for live sandfish, ‑63.1~‑46.3 dB for thawed sandfish, and ‑70.0~‑50.4 dB after 24 hours from thawed, respectively. It was shown that while TS values were similar between the case of live and the case of after 24 hours from thawed, mean TS values were higher by approximately 5 dB in the case of immediate thawed sandfish. It was also seen that TS values were similar between the case of thawed sandfish and the case of after 21 hours from live. The results showed that TS values of live sandfish were different from those of frozen sandfish. It implies that when estimating TS of frozen fish, the influx of bubbles and changes of body should be considered.

An acoustic and trawl pilot survey using a small vessel was conducted in Jinhae bay of the South Sea of South Korea on April 13~14, May 11~13 and June 8~10, 2015. During the survey, acoustic data was collected and bottom trawls were conducted at the same time. First, various noises were eliminated by using the Park method based on the Wang method(Wang et al., 2015; Park et al., 2015), the species compositions and catch rate from each bottom trawl were observed, and spatial distribution of fishery resources in the water column and their nautical area scattering coefficient (NASC) were investigated through acoustic data. During the entire survey period, 12 orders, 33 families and 41 species were caught. The most caught species in April, May and June were Okamejei kenojei, Zoarces gilli and Pholis nebulosa, respectively. Fish schools were observed near the line of net mouth height in April. Numerous weak scatters were presented on the echograms in May and June. Many fish schools appeared in between the water surface and 20 m deep in May. The NASC value from entire water columns was the lowest in April (35.9 m2/n･mile2) and highest in June (1541.3 m2/n･mile2).

This study was focused on acoustic scattering characteristics of jack mackerel (Trachurus japonicus) at frequency 38, 70, and 120 kHz by Kirchhoff-ray mode (KRM) model. The body length (BL) of 16 individuals ranged in 12.2~22.0 cm (mean±S.D.: 17.8±3.2 cm) and the swimbladder length ranged in 4.2~8.6 cm (mean±S.D.: 6.6±1.6 cm) and the swimbladder cross section ranged in 1.7~6.6 cm2 (mean±S.D.: 3.8±1.6 cm2). This result shows that results correlate well between the BL and the length and cross section of swimbladder. The swimbladder angle ranged in 7~12°and the maximum TS values ranged in –16~–5°at tilt angle. The averaged TS-to-BL relationship were TS38kHz=20log10BL-65.33 (R2=0.66), TS70kHz=20log10BL-65.90 (R2=0.67), and TS120kHz=20log10BL-66.65 (R2=0.65). These results can be used fundamental data in order to estimate distribution and biomass of jack mackerel by using hydro-acoustic method.

Acoustic target strength (TS) measurement and theoretical acoustic scattering models were applied to estimate the TS for assessing the fish biomass. TS measurement was made of ex situ sailfin sandfish Arctoscopus japonicus at 70 and 120 kHz, and then compared to backscatter model prediction. The live sandfish was tethered in seawater using monofilament lines. Measurements were made versus incidence angle, −50° to 50° relative to dorsal aspect directions. Distorted wave Born approximation (DWBA) model was used to calculated TS pattern. The TS values of sandfish (body length: 16.2 cm) at 70 and 120 kHz were ‒66.94 dB and ‒64.45 dB, respectively, and were about 20 dB lower than TS of other fishes in Korea waters. These TS levels were distributed within the range of the theoretical TS. Ex situ measurement and theoretical TS may be applied to improve acoustical detection and biomass estimation of the sandfish, and is necessary to measure with various lengths.