This study was conducted to track the appearance of Aguijjim and its popularity on the national level. Furthermore, changes in the monkfish recipe and how they impacted the consumption of monkfish were investigated. It is assumed that monkfish was consumed by Japanese in Korea during the Japanese colonial era. After liberation, people cooked the fish as soup. In the 1960s, Aguijjim was invented in Masan. There is great controversy regarding how the dish was born. It has been asserted that it was created by one specific person, that refugees with insufficient food developed, and that it is just an advancement of Bugeojjim. Aguijjim restaurants began to appear in Seoul in the 1970s, and in the 1990s streets full of Aguijjim restaurants formed. Moreover, popular music and literature referenced Aguijjim in the late 1990s. As Aguijjim has developed and the formation of Aguijjim street have combined, the consumption of monkfish has increased drastically, leading to its import. As cooking methods have transformed, the fish with the unpleasant look which was thrown out in the past, have dramatically gained public interest. ‘Masan Aguijjim’ became an independent brand that represents a local food that has also been nationalized in a short amount of time.

황해와 동중국해역에서 근해안강망에 의해 어획되는 황아귀의 어획량 변동과 어장 분포, 그리고 산란 생태를 구명한 결과는 다음과 같다. 황아귀는 연중 어획되며, 이중 많이 어획되는 시기는 겨울철, 가장 적게 어획되는 시기는 여름철인 것으로 나타났다. 황아귀의 어장은 황해와 동중국해에 널리 분포하고 있으며, 중심어장은 일향초 주변 해역으로 어획량이 50 M/T 이상, CPUE가 5kg/haul 이상, C.V는 0.6~0.7의 범위로 낮게 나타났다. 황아귀의 산란시기는 3월과 4월경이며, 이때의 산란장은 일향초와 제주도 사이해역에서 형성되는 것으로 추정되었다. 황아귀의 어장은 월별에 따라 이동하는 현상을 나타내었는데, 즉, 겨울에는 황해저층냉수와 대마난류수의 남하로 어장은 제주도 서방해역에 주로 분포한다. 또 산란시기인 3월과 4월경이 되면, 일향초 부근 해역으로 어장이 밀집하지만, 산란이 끝난 5월이후가 되면 수온의 상승과 더불어 어장은 황해와 동중국해역으로 널리 분산되는 것으로 나타났다.