Korean distant water tuna longline fishery commenced in 1966 in the Atlantic Ocean. Since then, it has become one of the most important fisheries of Korea. By early of 1970s, total amount of tuna caught in the Atlantic Ocean was the highest among other Korean distant water tuna fisheries, but has become minor since 1990s. The annual catch of tuna and tuna-like species by Korean tuna longline fishery in the Atlantic Ocean was about 1,900 mt in 2013. Bigeye tuna was the predominant species in species composition followed by yellowfin tuna, Albacore tuna, Blue shark and Swordfish. Korean distant water tuna longline fishery have mainly operated in the tropical area of the Atlantic Ocean (20°N~20°S, 20°E~60°W), fishing ground was almost similar as in the previous years. The length frequency of major species (Bigeye tuna, Yellowfin tuna, Albacore tuna, Blue shark and Swordfish) were estimated. As the result of length (size) frequency data on main species caught by lonline fishery in the Atlantic Ocean, main length intervals of bigeye tuna caught in 2011, 2012 and 2013 were 120~125 cm, 160~165 cm and 130~135 cm, respectively. For yellowfin tuna, those were 125~130 cm, 150~155 cm, 145~150 cm and for albacore, 109 cm, 102 cm, 109 cm and 106 cm respectively. For swordfish caught in 2011, 2012 and 2013, main length intervals were 130~135 cm, 125~135 cm and 125~130 cm, respectively, and for blue shark, 195~200 cm in 2011 and 185~190 cm in 2012, 2013.

We conducted experiments to compare the catch rate of bigeye tuna and yellowfin tuna between circle hooks and straight shank hook in the Korean tuna longline fishery at the eastern and central Pacific Ocean from 2005 to 2007. We analyzed difference of fork length, survival and hooking location between a circle hook and a straight shank hook for both tunas, respectively. There was no difference in the mean fork length size of yellowfin tuna caught on the two type of hook but bigeye tuna was significant. In case of survival, there was no difference between two hook type, but the difference of hooking location was significant for both species. We also analyzed to find determinants of both tunas catch rate using generalized linear models (GLMs) which were used latitude, longitude, year, month, depth, hook type, bait type and so on as independent variables. Spatial factors, latitude and longitude, and temporal factors, year and month, affected catch rate of bigeye tuna and yellowfin tuna. And also, depth such as a marine environment factor was influenced on catch rate.

The purpose of this paper is to provide useful information for fishermen in the manner of investigation a sinking speed of current type tuna longline gear at the North Pacific Ocean as a new developed tuna longline fishing ground. The sinking depth of mainline in connection with different basket was investigated. The experiments were also performed with different materials such as Supermansen (i.e., PE) and Hitech (i.e., PA) for the mainline to investigate the sinking depth of mainline and hooks. Furthermore, the relation between the sinking depth of hooks and catches are investigated also. The sinking depth of mainline at the first and the last shooting basket shows deeper than that of middle part of a basket due to reduced shortening ratio. The sinking depth of mainline and hook with Hitech material shows more shallow than that of Supermanse material, even the Hitech case was designed to sink deeper than that of Supermanse case. The highest catches arise at the middle part basket as the hook number 7 with around 248m sinking depth. From the results, longline with Hitech material is needed to increase the sinking force for reaching the relevant sinking depth. Moreover, the current strength at the North Pacific Ocean will be considered for further commercial fishing.

Ecological risk assessment(ERA), developed in Australia, can be used to estimate the risk of target, bycatch and protected species from the effects of fishing using limited data for stock assessment. In this study, we employed the ERA approach to estimate risks to tunas, billfishes, sharks, sea turtles and other species by the Korean tuna longline fishery in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean using productivity and susceptibility analyses of the ERA based on low(<1.30), medium(1.30-1.84) and high risk(>1.84). Albacore, bigeye, yellowfin, skipjack and bluefin tunas were generally evaluated in the medium risk. The susceptibility of tuna species, however, had higher risks than the productivity. Billfishes were also at medium risk, while sharks were at high risk by the tuna longline fishery. The risk of productivity was generally high, because most sharks caught by the tuna longline fishery have high longevities, i.e., over 10 years, including ovoviviparous species. Susceptibility, which is related with the selection of fishing gear, was also high, because the longline fishery has no gear modifications to prevent bycatch of protected species. Not only target tuna species were influenced by the tuna longline fishery in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, but also nontarget species, such as pomfret, mackerels rays, sea turtle were done. Ecosystem-based fishery assessment tools, such as productivity and susceptibility analysis(PSA), have the ability to provide broad scientific advice to the policy makers and stakeholders.

This study standardized catch per unit effort(CPUE) of the Korean longline fishery, which has been used to assess the status of stock as an index of abundance, for bigeye and yellowfin tunas in the Indian Ocean. The Generalized Linear Model(GLM) was used to analyze the fishery data, which were catch in number and effort data collected each month from 1971 to 2007 by 5 × 5 degree of latitude and longitude. Explanatory variables for the GLM analysis were year, month, fishing area, number of hooks between floats(HBF), and environment factors. The HBF was divided into three classes while the area was divided into eight subareas. Although sea surface temperature(SST) and southern oscillation index(SOI) were considered as environmental factors, only SST was used to build a model based on statistical significance. Standardized CPUE for yellowfin tuna showed a declining trend, while nominal CPUE for the species showed an increasing trend.

Data collected by on-board observers and from experimental surveys during 2004-2006 were analyzed to figure out the status of shark bycatch in Korean tuna longline fishery. Results obtained from 10 surveys indicated that 14, 13 and 1 species of shark were incidentally caught in Korean tuna longline fishery operated in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic (Mediterranean) Ocean, respectively, and that shark bycatch accounted for about 29-31% of the total catch. Sharks brought aboard were processed in 3 ways; out of 1,127 sharks observed, 575 sharks (51.0%) were discarded after finning, 299 sharks (26.5%) were stored frozen after finning for future use and 253 sharks (22.4%) were released into the sea immediately after caught. The fin to body weight ratio of sharks was estimated to be about 4.7% which is similar to the guideline of 5% established by the international fisheries organizations. The underestimate of shark bycatch in Korean tuna longline fishery was significant because it was general practice that fishermen on-board did not count the discarded shark as a catch.

중층 연승어구의 수중형상과 낚시의 심도는 어획성능을 좌우하는 중요한 요소하다. 또한 매조업시마다 얻어지는 낚시별 어획어종, 크기등과 같은 조획 데이터의 체계적인 관리와 분석도 향후 조업을 위한 지표로서 고려되어야 한다. 본 연구에서는 유향.유속에 따른 어구의 수중 형상을 시뮬레이션하여 해석하였고, 해석의 정확성을 검증하기 위해서 모형실험을 실시하였다. 또한 시뮬레이션에서 얻어진 각 낚시별 심도 정보를 활용하여, 낚시별로 사용한 미끼와 어획된 어종의 자료를 처리할 수 있는 데이터베이스 시스템을 구축하였다. 본 연구에서 얻어진 결과를 요약하면 디음과 같다. 1. 영각과 단축률이 일정할 때, 유속이 증가함에 따라 낚시의 심도는 유속에 비례해서 감소하였다. 2. 단축률과 유속이 일정할 때, 영각이 증가함에 따라 낚시의 심도는 영각에 비례해서 감소하였다. 3. 영각과 유속이 일정할 때, 단축률이 증가함에 따라 낚시의 심도는 단축률에 비례해서 감소하였다. 4 시뮬레이션에 의한 수중 형상과 모형어구의 수중 형상을 비교한 결과, 오차는 ±3% 이내로 나타나 실험결과에 대한 시뮬레이션의 결과가 잘 일치함을 나타내었다. 5 본 연구에서 시뮬레이션에서 얻어진 낚시 심도정보를 활용한 조획률 데이터베이스 시스템은 여러 파라미터들 예를 들어 미끼, 낚시 섬도 등에 따라서 어획어의 종류와 크기를 분석할 수 있어서, 현장의 조획 데이터의 관리 및 분석에 많은 도움을 줄 수 있을 것이다.