The fish influx and behavioral properties at a set-net off Goseong, South Korea were investigated using an imaging sonar. As a result, the average influx of fish was 33.9% at day time and 66.1% at night time, respectively, which indicated that a majority of fish entered into a playground in the set-net at night. The fish behavioral properties such as target (fish) length, range, orientation and major-axis angle were examined and compared among survey dates (4, 5, and 6 June 2019) using the statistical analysis tool (analysis of variance, ANOVA). The behavioral properties presented differently sometime of survey dates. This is preparatory study to support fish behavior properties in a set-net. It is expected that more elaborated behavioral information of fishes in the set-net is beneficial for designing and deploying a set-net fishing gear as well as general fish behavior research in the future.

Various artificial reefs provide the fish habitat and nursery, and contribute the improvement of fisheries productivity. The evaluation methods of fishery resources in the artificial reefs have been done by fishing, scuba diving, underwater camera, and scientific echo sounder/sonar. There are a number of studies using echosounders on the quantitative and qualitative evaluations of artificial reefs in various seas around the world. This study focused on the spatial distribution of fishes around artificial reefs and the influential area of reefs off Bukchon, Jeju Island. Not only acoustic data but also various properties of artificial reefs were used in the geographic information system to extract relevant results. As a result, the major material of reefs on this study site was concrete and the number of reefs with that material was the most. The volume of reefs consisted of steel only and steel with riprap was considerably large compared to other reefs. The average NASC in the vertical distribution of fishes in artificial reefs was 31.6 m2/nm2 in April, and that was 61.3 m2/nm2 in June. The distance between the fish school and their nearest reef in June morning had a wide range from 750 to 3250 m. On the basis of the influence ray of artificial reefs, it had a tendancy of NASC to decrease with distance from the reef in the June morning. It is a preliminary study to present the geospatial analysis example to understand a better way of comprehensive artificial reef environments.

Acoustics are increasingly regarded as a remote-sensing tool that provides the basis for classifying and mapping ocean resources including seabed classification. It has long been understood that details about the character of the seabed (roughness, sediment type, grain-size distribution, porosity, and material density) are embedded in the acoustical echoes from the seabed. This study developed a sophisticated yet easy-to-use technique to discriminate seabed characteristics using a split beam echosounder. Acoustic survey was conducted in Tongyeong waters, South Korea in June 2018, and the verification of acoustic seabed classification was made by the Van Veen grab sampler. The acoustic scattering signals extracted the seabed hardness and roughness components as well as various seabed features. The seabed features were selected using the principal component analysis, and the seabed classification was performed by the K-means clustering. As a result, three seabed types such as sand, mud, and shell were discriminated. This preliminary study presented feasible application of a sounder to classify the seabed substrates. It can be further developed for characterizing marine habitats on a variety of spatial scales and studying the ecological characteristic of fishes near the habitats.