• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.468-480
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• 2022

Although the construction of the Nakdong River Estuary Barrage (NEB) improved the water supply in the region, it cut off the longitudinal connectivity of the estuary aquatic ecosystem. Thus, the social demands for opening the NEB have been continuously raised, and the efforts to restore the aquatic ecosystem of the Nakdong River estuary began in 2017. Many fish species have inhabited the Nakdong River estuary. Since their habitat and migration characteristics vary widely, the sluice gate operation considering them is essential for the restoration of the aquatic ecosystem. Therefore, in this study, we monitored the fish species living and migrating in the Nakdong River estuary and analyzed the possibility of smooth movement of for each fish species by calculating the average flow velocity according to the type and the height of the gate opening. Moreover, we selected the target fish species for each month and suggested the sluice gate operation according to the depth of the main habitat to present the measures that are ideal for optimal restoration of the aquatic ecosystem in the Nakdong River estuary area.