Effect of Yellow Clay on the Oxygen Consumption Rate of Korean rockfish, Sebastes schlegelii

Yellow clay dispersion has been applied to minimize fisheries impact by the red tide Cochlodinium polykrikoides blooms in Korean coasts since 1995. The present preliminary study documents the effect of yellow clay on Korean rockfish, Sebastes schlegelii, in terms of oxygen consumption rate (OCR). The OCR in the low clay suspension (0.05 and 0.23 %, w/w) showed normal level compared to the control. In contrast, the OCR for each one of three replicates in the high clay suspension (1.16 and 5.58 %, w/w) was not returned to the previous level that clay was not treated, indicating that high clay suspension (${\geq}1.16%$, w/w) might give negative effect on Korean rockfish. Overall, this result suggests that field application of clay to control Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) may not give impact on Korean rockfish once the clay is dispersed in a low concentration (${\leq}0.23%$). In order to understand the changes of OCR in the repeated exposure to clay, it is required to do further studies on the changes of OCR when the fish is exposed to clay repeatedly after recovery in the normal seawater.