The heat treatment machine based on immersion was developed to reduce temperature difference during netting process and appraised it performance compared current heat treatment machine using high pressure. It was also reviewed the optimum heat treatment procedures for PBSAT monofilament net in accordance with the immersion time and temperature. The procedure was based on physical measurement such as breaking load, elongation and angle of the mesh for PBSAT monofilament. The water temperature gap of the treatment machine based on immersion was less than 1°C. and the energy consumption was also increased in high temperature condition. It was identified that the optimum temperature was 75°C and its optimum processing time was between 15 minutes and 20 minutes to get qualified physical properties.

Swelling of the heat-treated netting for gillnet was estimated through the netting height in square acrylic tank. Experimental Nylon netting and PBSAT netting were heat-treated by using the high-degree vacuum method in hot water after net making. Heat-treatment temperatures were conducted with Nylon netting 105°C and PBSAT netting 62°C, 65°C, 66°C, 67°C. The swelling measurement method of a netting using the square tank was capable of the reduction measurement errors comparing with measurement methods of a mesh inner angle and the shortening rate of a mesh size. In addition, this method was available to comparison evaluation for each netting more easily. Wet type heat-treatment apparatus with high-degree vacuum was shown higher 7∼8°C inner side temperature than a setting temperature. The tensile strength and elongation of Nylon netting and PBSAT netting were shown higher wet condition than dry condition. The tensile strengths of PBSAT monofilaments in dry and wet condition were sharply decreased at heat-treatment temp. 75°C than heat-treatment temp. 74°C

Physical characteristics of PA (Polyamide) gill net and biodegradable gill net made by PBS (Polybutylene succinate) (mesh size 63mm, mesh thickness number 2, 2.5, 3) were analyzed to investigate catching efficiency of the biodegradable gill net for Pacific herring. Total 11 numbers of catching efficiency tests were carried out using commercial fishing vessel at Imwon port in Kangwon province from May to June 2013. The amount of catches were 1,535.7kg (18 species) through the catching efficiency tests and it is expected that the practicalization of biodegradable gillnet is possible because there is no difference for catches between PA gillnet and PBS gillnet. Catches of herring according to the thickness of net twine was the highest at No.2 and the thicker net twine tends to decrease the catches.

The monofilament with 0.304mm of diameter was produced using a polybutylene succinate (PBS) resin, and a gill net was made by it. We investigated the impact of heat setting temperature on the mechanical properties, knot state and height of gill net. Heat treatment was carried out using the high pressure steam machine for 20 minutes at temperature of 55℃, 60℃, 70℃ and 75℃. Before heat treatment, the strength and elongation of PBS monofilament were estimated to be 48.1kg/mm2, 23.8% at unknot, 37.6kg/mm2, 18.8% at single knot, 26.6kg/mm2, 22.9% at double knot in dry condition, respectively. The strength and elongation of PBS monofilament with double knot were decreased as heat setting temperature increased, and the decreasing rate of strength was showed to be higher than that of elongation. It was not found any differences in strength and elongation of PBS monofilament yarn with double knot at the 65℃ and 70℃ of heat setting temperature by 5% significance of T-test, but there was a significant difference at the 70℃ and 75℃ of heat setting temperature. The net's height and length from leg to leg appeared no differences at the 70℃ and 75℃ of heat setting temperature. In results, it was investigated that the PBS monofilament gill net with the maximized physical properties could be manufactured at 70℃ of heat setting temperature using a high pressure steam machine for 20 minutes.

In order to improve the breaking strength and elongation of Polybutylene succinate (PBS) monofilament, the monofilament was produced by blending PBS and Polybutlyne adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT). The PBS/PBAT blend monofilament was prepared by the melt spinning system, and the weight ratios of the compositions of PBS/PBAT was 100/0, 95/5, 90/10 and 85/15, respectively. The breaking strength, elongation, softness and crystallization of PBS/PBAT blend monofilament were analyzed by using a tensionmeter, softness measurement, X-ray diffractometer in the both dry and wet conditions. The PBS/PBAT blend monofilaments were spun in the take-up velocity of 1.19m/sec under the drawing ratio of 6.8:1 condition. The production volumes of PBS/PBAT blend monofilaments showed 20% less than that of Nylon. The breaking strength of PBS/PBAT blend monofilaments were decreased as PBAT contents increased, while elongation and softness were increased. In case of PBAT content were over 5%, the breaking strength, elongation and softness of PBS/PBAT blend monofilaments were not shown to increase in spite of increasing in PBAT contents. Based on these results, it was possible to make the monofilaments with the maximized physical properties when the PBAT contents at 5%.

Biodegradable polybutylene succinate(PBS) is an environment friendly plastics for fisheries, because it can mitigate the ghost fishing problem caused by gill-net and trap fisheries. To evaluate photodegradability of PBS monofilament in comparison with polyamide(PA) and polyethylene(PE) monofilament, these 3 types of monofilaments were spun and exposed to ultraviolet light(UV) of weather-ometer for 900 hours, and then their modification, crystal structure, strength, and extensibility were analysed. PBS monofilament did not show any crack and maintained its crystal structure after 900 hour exposure to UV whereas PE monofilament began showing cracks and structure modification after 600 hour exposure. Under UV exposure, the strength and extensibility decreased more rapidly in PBS than in PA and PE. We estimate that gill nets made of PBS monofilament can endure for about 1 year. The breaking strength and elongation decreased linearly with the exposure time for the 3 types of monofilaments. The derived regression equations of the residual tenacity(RT, kg/mm2) and the residual extensibility(RE, %) with the exposure time in year(Y) for each monofilament were; PBS : RT=48.598 - 8.6437Y(R2=0.93), RE=28.165 - 7.3233Y(R2=0.98), P A : RT=59.771 - 8.6437Y(R2=0.98), RE=32.198 - 5.2772Y(R2=0.92), P E : RT=60.898 - 5.6528Y(R2=0.98), RE=11.887 - 0.7188Y(R2=0.98).

This study was aimed not only to develop the gill net and trap made of biodegradable monofilaments in order to prevent a ghost fishing and to protect marine ecosystem, but also to analyze their spinning process and physical properties. Results showed that the spinning speed of biodegradable polybutylene succinate(PBS) monofilament was estimated to be approximately 100m/min when spinning temperature and cooling water temperature were adjusted at 180℃ and 3℃, respectively. The breaking loads of PBS monofilaments were estimated to be 35.3kg/mm2 at Φ0.2mm, 46.5kg/mm2 at Φ0.3mm, and 49.7kg/mm2 at Φ0.4mm in the dry condition, respectively. However, its breaking loads in the wet condition were reduced by 2.4-5.5%, compared to those in the dry condition. The knotted strength of PBS monofilament at Φ0.2mm was estimated to be 98.6% of PE in the dry condition. The breaking load of PBS monofilament at Φ0.3mm was evaluated to be 81.8% of PA, and its softness showed 3 times less than that of PA in the wet condition. The breaking load of PBS monofilament at Φ0.4mm was 95.3% of PA, and its softness showed 1.6 times less than that of PA in the wet state. However, the load elastic elongations of two kinds of monofilaments were estimated to be 1% higher than that of PA.