Giant pacific octopus, Enteroctopus dofleini, is a large mollusk distributed in the East Sea of Korea. In this study, the catch status of giant pacific octopus by drift line fishery and the effect of sea temperature on fishing ground were investigated in Goseong-gun, Gangwon-do, which is the central coast of the East Sea. The average catch of giant pacific octopus in Gangwon-do was 1,570 tons over the past ten years, and it accounted for 21% in 2008 and 44% in 2021 compared to the total catch in the East Sea during the same period. Such data indicates that the catch in Gangwon-do has recently increased. In this study area, giant pacific octopus weighing 1.1-5.0 kg dominated accounting for 56% of the total individuals, and followed by those weighing 1 kg or less. However, the ratio of catch of giant pacific octopus over 5.1 kg tended to increase in 2021, which is thought to be related to the sea temperature that affected the fishing ground. The main depth of fishing ground was from 21 m to 50 m in this area and fishing grounds were widely distributed throughout the season except summer. Fishing ground was formed with the conditions of bottom sea temperature under 10℃ and was diminished by moving of giant pacific octopus to deeper depth with conditions of bottom sea temperature over 18℃.

The Pacific giant octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) is one of the most important species in the East Sea fishery of Korea. The annual production of Pacific giant octopus in 2021 was 3,880 metric ton between Gangwon province and Gyeongsangbuk province. Most of the fishing gears for the octopus fishery were based on behavioral properties such as thigmotaxis and chemotaxis. Wooden octopus box is also one of the fishing gears, which is application of thigmotaxis for the octopus capture in fishing industry. In this study, the tank experiments were designed to examine the behaviour and the effect of surface roughness to the infiltration of the octopus quantitatively. Three different types of octopus boxes were used for the experiments with different surface roughness on the average of 701.6 ㎛, 141.7 ㎛ and 2.09 ㎛ for each gear. 22 trials were conducted from June to September 2021. The normality of the experiments was tested using Shapiro-Wilk normality test (p-value < 0.05). The significance of results was conducted by Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test (Chi-squarded = 21, Degree of freedom = 3, p-value < 0.05). The use of wooden octopus box with rough surface was found to enhance the catch efficiency and observe infiltration behaviour of the octopus frequently.

In this study, for the purpose of reducing the catch of small giant octopus in a net pot, an escape experiment of octopus was performed on five types of escape rings of different sizes. As a result of the experiment, the smallest giant octopus with a weight of 406 g was found to escape from an escape ring with a diameter of 30 mm or larger, and 592 g octopus, a weight similar to the octopus of the current minimum landing weight (600 g), escaped from an escape ring with a diameter of larger than 40 mm. An individual weight with 406 g becomes 39 mm when converted from a diameter of 25 mm circular escape vent; that is, the circumference to the inner diameter of the mesh. It can be inferred that the converted mesh size of 39 mm cannot escape. Logistic regression analysis was performed using a generalized linear model (GLM) to investigate the correlation between the ratio of escape ring size/Mantle diameter (R/MD) and the escape rate. As a result, it was found that there was a significant correlation between the R/MD ratio and the escape rate and that the higher the R/MD ratio, the greater the escape rate. As a result of logistic regression analysis, the R/MD value was denoted 0.520 with the 50% escape rate. In addition, it can be estimated to be about 50 mm when converted to the mesh size. Therefore, in this study, the diameter of the escape ring and the size of the escape possible of the octopus were experimentally considered. It was found that there was a significant correlation.

In this study, the fishery status of the octopus pot fishery in the east coastal sea were investigated, and the fishing performance of each pot shape was compared and analyzed. The fishery status survey was conducted through listening surveys at Jukbyeon Port, Uljin Port and Pohang Daebo Port in Gyeongbuk Province, and the amount of fishing gear used, fishing method, size and loss of octopus pot fishery was investigated. On the east coastal sea, octopus is one of the commercially important fish stocks and is caught in inshore pots, inshore combos, inshore gillnets and offshore pots. Among these fishing methods, pot fishing yields the highest catch. The shape of the pot differs depending on the region. In Uljin (Jukbyeon Port and Hupo Port), Gyeongbuk, rectangular type net pots are mainly used, and in Pohang (Daebo Port) in Gyeongbuk, drum-type pots are mostly used. Enteroctopus dofleini accounts for more than 90% of the catch of octopus. For the octopus fishing performance test by trap type, three types of traps (rectangular pot, drum pot and cylinder pot) were used on the coastal sea of Pohang Daebo. As a result, the total catch by pot shape was shown in the order of rectangular-type pot > drum-type pot > cylinder-type pot. The catch of octopus, the target species, was in the following order: rectangular-type pot > drum-type pot > cylinder-type pot. Such result shows a significant difference (Mann-Whitney test, p<0.05).

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.

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.

외줄낚시에 대한 대문어의 조획기구를 알아내고, 낚시를 개량하기 위하여 수조에서 외줄낚시어구에 대한 대문어의 행동패턴을 비디오카메라로 관찰 조사하였다. 대문어는 돌진하거나 천천히 유영하며 미끼를 잡았다. 돌진할 때에는 두개의 팔로 미끼를 잡은 후 약간 뒤로 물러서서 정지하였고, 천천히 접근 할 때는 한 개의 팔로 미끼를 잡은 후 그 자리에 정지하여 섭이하는 행동을 보였다. 조획은 약간 뒤로 물러서서 섭이할 때보다 그 자리에 정지할 때가 많았다. 평균 체중 1kg의 대문어가 정어리, 대문어, 돼지비계 등을 전량 섭이하는데 소요되는 시간은 각각 1~30분 , 10~50분 , 50분~1시간 이상으로서 미끼의 육질이 질길수록 대문어가 미끼를 섭이하는데 장시간 소요되었다. 조획성능에서는 낚시의 채가 긴 A형낚시보다 채가 짧은 B형낚시가 양호하였으나 어체로부터 낚시를 탈락시키는 데는 B형낚시보다 A형낚시가 용이하였다.