This study analyzed the Conservation and Management Measures (CMMs) related to fishing operations using Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) among the measures implemented by Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) overseeing tuna purse seine fisheries. Additionally, we analyzed the FADs fishing status by sea area and examined the sustainable tuna purse seine fishing using FADs. Significant variations were observed in the number, materials, structure, and timing of FADs deployments, which were influenced by the fishing ground environment and methods in each ocean. These variations resulted in corresponding differences in the CMMs. However, all oceans required the use of non-entangling FADs and recommended biodegradable materials to mitigate marine pollution and bycatch of protected species. An analysis of FADs usage based on field interviews revealed that the total number of FADs deployed across all oceans in 2023 reached 142,020 sets, an increase of approximately 18% compared to 120,680 sets in 2013, despite the enforcement of CMMs by each RFMOs aimed at gradually reducing FADs fishing to promote sustainable fisheries. Each RFMOs aims to gradually reduce FADs fishing rates and ultimately achieve sustainable fisheries. Therefore, to achieve sustainable tuna purse seine fisheries using FADs, prioritizing research on the biodegradable materials used in FADs construction is essential. Furthermore, strict adherence to principles concerning the quantitative use and retrieval of FADs is deemed necessary.

본 연구는 2024년 11월 제주 해상에서 발생한 금성 135호 침몰 사고를 중심으로 고등어 대형선망 어업에서의 침몰 사고 원인을 분석하고, 안전성 강화를 위한 개선 방안을 제시하고자한다. 국내 대형선망 어업은 대규모 어획 작업의 특성상 어획물 이동과 복원력 감 소의 위험이 내재되어 있으며, 이는 선박 침몰 사고의 주요 원인으로 작용할 수 있다. 금성 135호 사고는 대량 어획 작업 중 어획물 이동 과 복원력 상실이 복합적으로 작용했을 가능성이 제기되며, 사고 원인이 아직 명확히 규명되지 않았음에도 초기 정황과 분석을 통해 주 요 위험 요소를 파악할 수 있었다. 본 연구는 등선 위치 조정, 자동 장력 조절 장치 및 실시간 하중 모니터링 시스템 도입, 그리고 복원성 기준 개선과 같은 구체적인 개선 방안을 제안한다. 이러한 방안은 하중 이동과 복원력 저하로 인한 사고 위험을 효과적으로 줄이고, 대량 어획 작업의 안정성과 안전성을 동시에 강화할 수 있다. 결론적으로, 금성 135호 사고는 대형선망 어업의 특수성을 반영한 안전 기준 마 련과 기술적 개선의 필요성을 시사하며, 본 연구에서 제시한 개선 방안은 유사 사고를 예방하고 어업 현장의 안전성을 높이는 데 기여할 것으로 기대된다. 본 연구는 대형선망 어업의 작업 안정성을 향상시키기 위한 실질적인 정책적·기술적 대응책 마련에 중요한 자료를 제 공한다.

The breakdown of the Korea-Japan fishing negotiations since 2016 has made it impossible for many domestic fishing vessels to operate in the Japanese EEZ water, and large purse seine fishing vessels are one of them. Mackerel is a highly migratory fish species, circulating in the East China Sea, South Sea, West Sea and East Coast throughout the year, and goes through a period of wintering, spawning, growth and feeding migration. In this study, in order to find out the dependence of large purse seine fishing vessels on mackerel fishing in the Japanese EEZ waters, we analyzed the characteristics of mackerel by large purse seine fisheries in the Japanese EEZ waters from 2010 to 2016. The catch and fishing details were investigated. The total catch of mackerel by large purse seine fishery, the average catch rate of mackerel in Japanese EEZ is 4 percent per year. The amount is estimated at 10.2 billion won per year. Although there was an effect, it was not judged to be a significant factor, and it was found that the amount of catch and fish price in the domestic waters had a greater influence on the total catch than the Japanese EEZ waters.

In this study, the risk factors of coastal purse seine fisherman were analyzed through a survey of fishery workers of coastal purse seine fishery and the accident compensation insurance data of the fisheries workers of the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives (NFFC). The classified fishing operation accident data was analyzed through 4M (Man, Machine, Media, Management) model of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the accident prevention measures were presented using Harvey's 3E (Engineering, Education, Enforcement) model. The rate of accidents on coastal purse seinens each year was 75.8‰, 36.7‰ and 74.8‰ from 2015 to 2017. The accident frequency resulting from slipping was the highest, and the risk of a contact with gear was low. When comparing each insurance data, the average value of the contact with gear accident was the highest. This research result is expected to be important data in identifying and preventing safety hazards of coastal purse seiner fisherman in the future.

In order to understand characteristics on bycatch of Korean tuna purse seine fishery, especially operations associated with Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) in the Indian Ocean, we conducted analyses related to bycatch by school association type (unassociated school, FAD associated school and log associated school) using the data collected by scientific observers from 2016 to 2018. The FAD used by Korean tuna purse seine fishery in the Indian Ocean was a drifting FAD, which belongs to non-entangling FADs according to the category proposed by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF). The target species of Korean tuna purse seine fishery are skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tunas, accounting for 99% of the total catch. The ratio of bycatch was 0.97% in total catch and the discard accounted for less than 1%, indicating that most catch was retained on board. In terms of bycatch ratio by school association type, it accounted for 0.12% for unassociated school, 1.09% for FAD associated school and 1.25% for log associated school. As for the catch proportion of shark species by school association type, it accounted for 0.01% for unassociated school, 0.11% for FAD associated school and 0.10% for log associated school, which showed that unassociated school type was the lowest to affect bycatch of non-target and shark species. Given the proportion of bycatch compositions, however, it is considered that FAD associated school of Korean tuna purse seine fishery has less caught bycatch species of non-target and shark, compared to other fleets operating in the Indian Ocean.

In the previous study, a shooting trajectory assuming that the purse seine shooting trajectory is a circle was proposed based on the speed and direction of the movement of the fish school. However, in practice, a trajectory that is closer to an elliptical shape than a circular one is often formed. In this study, the existing circular trajectory and the elliptical trajectory methods were compared under the same conditions to confirm the effectiveness of elliptical shooting trajectory. In addition, changes in the eccentricity of ellipses were derived to assess which type of ellipse was appropriate as a shooting trajectory. When a high-speed fish school moves in a straight line, an elliptical shooting trajectory with the eccentricity of 0.7 to 0.9 will be reasonable, and for middle-low speed fish school, an elliptical shooting trajectory with the eccentricity of 0.4 to 0.6 will be more useful than a circle shooting trajectory.

This paper examines the trend of restructuring and direction of management response in the Large Purse Seine Fishery. The large-scale fishing industry is one of the most popular fishing areas in the coastal area, and it has been developed by providing exclusive supplies of many types of catchy fish, such as mackerel and horse mackerel through physical productivity in fleet operations. However, the Large Purse Seine Fishery has been declining in profitability due to the deterioration of the business environment since 2000. It is at a crossroads whether it will disappear or regenerate as it is. The Large Purse Seine Fishery's current problems are: firstly, the continued deterioration of the fishery business balance and worsening labor problems, secondly, insufficient freshness management and quality control after landing, and thirdly, import competition. The fourth is the intensification of the market competition, which is the evolution of fishing variability and the increase in the proportion of small fish. The fifth is the reduction of the operating fishing ground due to the suspension of mutual fishing in Korea and Japan. To address these problems and suggest management response directions for the survival of large-scale fishing businesses is as follows. First, a sustainable production system should be established through strengthening resource management and promoting international fisheries cooperation. Second, the profitability of fishing management should be improved by introducing a low-cost supplier system and securing a stable labor force. Third, we should improve the leading and quality control of catch, improve the high value-added value of catch through brand development, and secure competitive advantage with imported produce. Finally, the government should establish a cooperative system among private sector, government, and research institutes to push ahead with these tasks and strengthen the competitiveness of the front and rear industries.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) selected fishing as the most dangerous group of jobs in the world, and it is well known in Korea as a 4D industry. Offshore large purse seine accounts for the largest portion of the fishing industry in the coastal region with high death rate and the accident rate. The repeated disaster rate survey by the Korea Maritime Institute (KMI) shows offshore large purse seiner is the highest at 22.3 percent and coastal gill nets and offshore stow net are following at 12.4 percent and 11.9 percent in order. Therefore, risk factors occurring in offshore large purse seiners were analyzed based on data from the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives (NFFC) for three years from 2015 to 2017 and 4M (Man, Machine, Media, Management) 3E (Engineering, Education, Enforcement) techniques were used to provide a safe fishing environment. The number of accidents on offshore large purse seiners each year was more than 150, and the number of accidents on every fishing boats was as high as 17 percent in 2015. If the accident rate and the risk level were divided by insurance, the accident resulting from contact with machinery was the highest, and the risk of a contact with gear was low but frequently occurring. This was caused by collisions and contact with gear in situations where death and disappearance risk are not high, and accident types in situations where death and loss risk are considered to be contact with machinery, falls or other accidents. Through these analysis techniques, the frequency and risk of each type of accident on a offshore large purse seiners can be demonstrated, and it is expected to raise awareness of a safer fishing environment and contribute to the reduction of accidents.

Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) has been mostly caught by the Korean offshore large purse seine fishery in Korean waters. The annual catch of Pacific bluefin tuna caught by the offshore large purse seine fishery in Korean waters showed less than 1,000 mt until the 1990s except for 1997. The catch sharply increased to 2,401 mt in 2000 and recorded the highest of 2,601 mt in 2003, but the catch has generally decreased with a fluctuation thereafter. The main fishing ground of Pacific bluefin tuna of this fishery is formed around Jeju Island. However, it expanded to the Yellow Sea, the coastal of Busan, and the East Sea, which depends on the migration patterns of Pacific bluefin tuna by season. The CPUE standardization of Pacific bluefin tuna was conducted using Generalized Linear Model (GLM) to assess the proxy of the abundance index. The data used for the GLM were catch (weight), effort (number of hauls), catch ratio of Pacific bluefin tuna, moon phase by year, quarter and area. The standardized CPUE from 2004 to 2011, except for 2003 and 2010, showed a steady trend, and then increased until 2014. The CPUE in 2015 decreased, and in 2016 was higher than that in 2015. The result of GLM suggests that the effect of the catch ratio of Pacific bluefin tuna is the largest factor affecting the nominal CPUE.

This study investigated the drag coefficient and lift coefficient of thirteen kinds of knotless nettings used for large purse seine gear. By comparing the hydrodynamic characteristics with nets of the previous study, the characteristics of this study were derived as a purse seine gear. Thirteen kinds of nettings with different length of bar () and diameter () were used in the experiment, out of which six kinds used the 30 mm in mesh size and three kinds with 40 mm. The drag coefficient ( ) also increased with increasing . It can be expressed as        at a current speed 0.4 m/s and        at a current speed 0.5 m/s. Compared with previous studies, drag coefficient values were similar to knotless net of similar  and smaller than drag coefficient of knot net. Therefore, using knotless net in a purse seine has the advantage of reducing the resistance acting on the purse seine gear.

Lots of fishery stocks are overexploited and the overcapacity exists in Korean fishing fleets. One of the reasons is technological development, which increases the efficiency of the vessels continuously. The analysis was conducted to identify the change of fishing power index to develop the vessel and gear technology that may have improved the fishing efficiency of the offshore large powered purse seine fishery from 1960s to 2010s. Gross tonnage and horse power per fishing vessel was increased annually. Fishing gear material was changed to the knotless webbing to settle faster. Fishing equipments was modernized and supply rate was also increased. Therefore the relative fishing power index in the offshore large powered purse seine fishery increased from 0.4 in 1970 to 1.0 in 1980, to 1.5 in 2000 and to 1.6 in 2010, but the rate of increase slowed down gradually. The results are expected to contribute to reasonable fishery stock management.

The WCPFC CMMs related to tropical tunas have been strongly restricting fishing capacity and operating activities of main fisheries, especially purse seine fishery. In terms of changes in fishing trend by implementing relevant measures of FAD set, the number of FAD set by Korean purse seine fleet showed a decreasing pattern with the lowest level of FAD set proportion among major distant water fishing nations. With regards to the FAD closure, there was no significant change in fishing effort but a drop in catch, especially bigeye tuna during the period of FAD closure. Moreover, it showed closely similar trends between the number of FAD set and bigeye tuna catch. In terms of measures related to the high sea area including a ban on fishing on the HSP and limitation of fishing days on the high sea by flag state, proportions of catch and effort on the high sea had sharply declined after implementing those measures. As relevant measures are expected to be strengthened, it should pay attention to change of coastal nations policies and focus on improving fishing efficiency of unassociated school set with multi-pronged efforts.