• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.74-80
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• 2018

Mercury (Hg) poses a threat to marine ecosystem due to continuous inflow from various industries and bioaccumulation to higher trophic level via food web. Mercury can adversely affect growth, development, reproduction and metabolism to aquatic organisms. In the present study, acute toxicity and oxidative stress markers (total glutathione content, and activities of GST, GR and GPx) were investigated in brackish water flea Disphanosoma celebensis exposed to HgCl₂ for 24 h. As results, Hg showed negative effect in survival of D. celebensis. 24 h-LC₅₀ value was determined as 0.589 mg/l (95% C.I. 0.521~0.655 mg/l). After exposure to Hg (0.08 and 0.4 mg/l) for 24 h, total glutathione content was significantly decreased, whereas GST, GPx and GR activities were enhanced. These findings indicate that Hg induced oxidative stress in D. celebensis, and oxidative stress markers may be involved in cellular defense against Hg - mediated toxicity. This study provides a better understanding of molecular mode of action of Hg toxicity in this specie and potent of molecular markers for heavy metal monitoring in marine ecosystem.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.331-337
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• 2022

In 2021, the Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP), a U.N. advisory research institute, cited container loss as one of six sources of marine litters in shipping. The sinking of the X-P ress Pearl in May 2021 caused a catastrophic environmental pollution accident in which the loaded containers were moved to the shore, and the plastic pellets were loaded inside covered the coast of Sri Lanka. With this history, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will discuss prevention and follow-up measures for container loss during ship voyages, as an agenda at the 8th Sub Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers meeting in September 2022. To establish Korea's response direction at the IMO meeting, this study identified major causes of container loss accidents, and considered the response through analysis based on the accident investigation report and related professional data. As a result, it was found that the major cause of container loss during voyages was the enlargement of container ships, bad weather, and poor loading of containers. In particular, the need to prepare countermeasures for the deterioration of the operational safety of large container ships due to bad weather was identified. Additionally, integrated monitoring of the implementation of international conventions is required, for the safe sea transportation of container cargo. In particular, in terms of preservation of the marine environment, it is necessary to supplement the system for the recovery of lost containers. Finally, it was found that it is necessary to establish systems that can complement each other in the shipbuilding and shipping industries, in terms of shipbuilding as well as ship operation, to fundamentally prevent container loss accidents at sea. It is judged that it is difficult to resolve the various factors of container loss at sea during voyages, by responding from an individual perspective.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.217-225
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• 1998

This study was performed to compare the effects of a fish cage on the structure of meiobenthic communities at two locations during May, 1996. The number of meiofaunal taxa at the existing cage site and control site was 15 and 26, respectively. Nematoda was the most dominant group of meiobenthos. Nematoda and Sarcomastigophora comprised more than $90\%$ of total meiofauna at both sites. The total density of control site was 7,702 inds./$10\;cm^{2}$ which is 10 times more than that of fish cage site. The density was highest in the upper 1 cm and decreased with sediment depth. The nematodes/harpacticoid copepods ratio as an index of pollution monitoring for benthic ecosystem at fish cage site was two times higher than at control site. Kinorhyncha known to be sensitive to pollution stress was not found at fish cage site.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.1228-1236
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• 2018

Recently, the maritime environment contaminated by the abandoned fishing gears. To solve this problem, there requires systematic management techniques for the fishing gears based on ICT technologies. The existed systems are optionally used by owners, but the systems need to adopt the monitoring and control architecture for integrated national surveillance. To do this, we designed an architecture for effective monitoring and management which collects position and state information using automatic identification buoy (AIB) device, to send the fishing ship, administrator ship, and shore side control center based on the IoT networks. Especially, in this paper, we developed the ENC-based integrated control system for efficient management which provides functions for position indication, state information display and loss alarm of fishing gears. Also, we conduct performance tests for data processing and visualization functions of the system to use a virtual buoy generation module.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.472-477
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• 2017

Oil spills cause a lot of damage to the environment. Oil destroys the water environment and ecosystem in a very short period of time once they are contaminated by it, it takes a lot of time to recover from the contamination and the cleaning process is very difficult. Therefore, oil detectors are greatly needed as they can monitor any oil spills over the sea, rivers, and lakes. There are two kinds of technology available for detecting oil, viz. the contact and non-contact types. The former is based on the use of the conductivity, capacitance and microwaves, while the latter employs infrared, UV, laser, optic and radar technologies. As there are also various hurdles in the measuring of oil on water, such as the presence of waves, refraction of light, temperature and saltiness, it is imperative to select the right oil detector which is appropriate for the specific environment. In this study, a contact type oil detector is developed, which can be used in oil related industries, such as refineries, petrochemical companies, and power generation stations. The detector is made up of the sensor module, which floats on the water, and the controller which processes the signal coming from the sensor module and displays it. It is designed in such a way that the existence of oil is detected through the sensor and the change in the permittivity is observed to determine the volume and type of spilled oil.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.897-914
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• 2010

The translog cost function of Korean Walleye pollock fishery is used to examine the impact of surface water temperature change led by global climate change. Catched of walleye pollock are very sensitive to water temperature and material cost. Elasticities of production to water temperature are -9%, significantly lower than we expected. There may be alternative explanations for the productivity decrease, including the possibility of overfishing and water pollution. However, the impact of climate change is obvious and inevitable. Therefore the government may encourage local fishermen to change from current cold water to warm water fisheries. Moreover continuos monitoring for the possibility of illegal activities at the East Sea. Finally, collaborated political efforts may be needed among the nations in the East Sea to conserve a Walleye Pollock fishery.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.221-234
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• 2016

In Korea, most industrial parks and major cities are located in coastal areas, which results in serious environmental problems in both coastal land and ocean. In order to effectively manage such problems especially in coastal ocean, water quality should be monitored. As there are many factors that influence water quality, the Korean Government proposed an integrated Water Quality Index (WQI) based on in situmeasurements of ocean parameters(bottom dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a concentration, secchi disk depth, dissolved inorganic nitrogen, and dissolved inorganic phosphorus) by ocean division identified based on their ecological characteristics. Field-measured WQI, however, does not provide spatial continuity over vast areas. Satellite remote sensing can be an alternative for identifying WQI for surface water. In this study, two schemes were examined to estimate coastal WQI around Korea peninsula using in situ measurements data and Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) satellite imagery from 2011 to 2013 based on machine learning approaches. Scheme 1 calculates WQI using estimated water quality-related factors using GOCI reflectance data, and scheme 2 estimates WQI using GOCI band reflectance data and basic products(chlorophyll-a, suspended sediment, colored dissolved organic matter). Three machine learning approaches including Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Regression (SVR), and a modified regression tree(Cubist) were used. Results show that estimation of secchi disk depth produced the highest accuracy among the ocean parameters, and RF performed best regardless of water quality-related factors. However, the accuracy of WQI from scheme 1 was lower than that from scheme 2 due to the estimation errors inherent from water quality-related factors and the uncertainty of bottom dissolved oxygen. In overall, scheme 2 appears more appropriate for estimating WQI for surface water in coastal areas and chlorophyll-a concentration was identified the most contributing factor to the estimation of WQI.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.689-697
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• 2020

Hazardous and noxious substances (HNS) may cause maritime incidents during marine transportation, which are liable to lead to a large amount of spillage or discharge into the sea. The damage to the marine environment caused by the HNS spill or discharge is known to be much greater than the damage caused by oil spill. Particularly dangerous is HNS, which is deposited or buried in the seabed, as it can damage the organisms that live on, in, and near the bottom of the sea, the so-called "benthos," forming the benthic ecosystem. Therefore, it is vital that the HNS deposited on the seabed be recovered. In order to do so, procedures and equipment are required for accurate detection, stabilization treatment, and recovery of HNS in subsea sediment. Thus, when developing a mechanical recovery system, the performance requirements should be selected using performance indices, and the conceptual design of the mechanical recovery system should be based on performance requirements decided upon and selected in advance. Therefore, this study was conducted to arrive at a conceptual design for a mechanical recovery system for the recovery of HNS deposited on the seabed. In the design of the system, based on the fundamental scenario, the method of suction foundation with the function of self enclosing was adopted for recovering the HNS sediment in the subsea sediment. The mechanical recovery system comprises the suction foundation, pollution prevention, a pump system, control system, monitoring device, location information device, transfer device, and tanks. This conceptual design is expected to be reflected and used in the basic design of the components and shapes of the mechanical recovery system.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.140-150
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• 2023

The Hangang River^* is necessary to manage the water environment of severe pollution due to the high density of residential areas, parks, and agriculture and the large population concentrated there. Benthic macroinvertebrates, such as chironomids larvae, are bioindicator species that reflect environmental changes and are crucial for water quality monitoring. In this study, we investigated morphological characteristics and molecular analysis of the chironomids larvae inhabiting the Hangang River area for water environment surveys. For this research, 20 rivers, lakes, and urban area in the Hangang River basin were selected. Chironomids larvae were collected from July to September 2022, and their appearance and characteristics were identified through morphological identification. In addition, phylogenetic analysis was performed based on the mtCOI gene sequences of the collected chironomids larvae, and identification at the genus level was confirmed. As a result, 32 species and 18 genera of 3 subfamilies of Chironomidae larvae were identified, and Stictochironomus sp. dominated most sites(6 sites). The morphological characteristics of the identified chironomids larvae, such as the mentum, ventromental plate, and antenna, were organized into table and pictorial keys, and a Bayesian inference molecular phylogeny was presented. These results provide basic morphological information for genus-level identification and can be used as fundamental information for water quality management.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.987-994
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• 2021

The Yellow sea, as described in article 123 of UNCLOS, is semi-enclosed sea surrounded by the Republic of Korea, the People's Republic of China and North Korea. In addition, the Yellow Sea is one of the 66 large marine ecosystems as it contains large amounts of marine resources. According to article 194 of UNCLOS, states should be aware of rights and duties with respect to the protection and preservation of the marine environment to be engaged with countries directly as regional entity or indirectly. Therefore, the legal blank is urgent in terms of trans-boundary environmental pollutant issues. The UNDP has conducted a project called Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem (YSLME) which has reached the 2^nd phase. The project has some notable achievements, namely performing joint activities on analysis of diagnostic trans-boundary issues in collaboration with China and South Korea, developing a strategic action plan based on TDA, and establishing regional strategic action plan. However, on the other hand, the project could not reflect the full participation of North Korea as a state party. As a result, the project has a limitation on effective implementation of RSAP. Therefore, this study focuses on the suggestion of a legally-binding trilateral treaty as a blue print for the next, 3^rd phase of the project. By analyzing the best practice of the Wadden Sea Trilateral Treaty case, the study verifies the validity of legislative measures on establishing and managing a legally-binding trilateral YSLME Commission. By suggesting a three phase treaty, incorporating a joint declaration by establishing the commission, the signing of the treaty, and formulating an umbrella convention and implementation arrangement, the study expects to guarantee the consistency and sustainability of the trilateral treaty regardless of political issues pertaining to North Korea.