• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.129-139
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• 2002

Fish distribution characteristics are essential to assess and estimate fisheries resources in a particular area. The primary goal of this study is to determine the distribution characteristics by the bottom trawling in the Yellow Sea west of South Korea. The surveys were carried out between 33$^{\circ}$00'N~37$^{\circ}$00'N latitude and 124$^{\circ}$00'E~126$^{\circ}$00'E longitude at EEZ(Exclusive Economic Zone) of Korea in Yellow Sea on May and August, 1999 and April, 2000. The ships used in this survey were the R/V Chung-kyeong(G/T 300) and R/V Dong-baek(G/T 1,050) of Yeosu National University. The results obtained can be summarized as follows 1. From the trawl data the fisheries resources are seriously decreasing through most of the species(about more 50%) have been appeared only one time at the bottom trawl on April, 2000. The total fish species caught by the trawl net during the 3 times survey were 106 species and a few species(dominant species) of these occupied 50~90% of the quantity of the total quantity by number or by weight. Among the dominant species the tanaka's snailfish was recorded to be the most dominant species in the survey area. The fish species in the Yellow Sea were clustered according to the regions. They clustered in two or three partes to the south-north direction in the spring season and clustered in two parts to the on-off shore direction of the shore in the summer season. Most of the fish caught at the the trawl net with cover-net(30.3mm) were small sized. They were shorter than 15 cm in length and the extruding rate of the cod-end which was 60mm mesh size ranges about 90%. 2. The densities of the number and weight per unit volume derived from the total catches sampled in April, 2000 survey were $1532.2{\times}10^{-6}fish/m^3$ and $39.55{\times}10^{-6}kg/m^3$, respectively. 3. The density variation of fish population between 1999 and 2000 showed a slight tendency to increase.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.241-258
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• 1998

The experimental demersal trawl surveys to provide the essential information for the assessment, management and utilization of commercially important fish stocks in the southern waters of Korea were carried out during five research cruises between October 1996 and October 1997 by the training ship “KAYA” of Pukyong National University. The biological sampling was conducted by using the trawl net with a cover net of 36 mm in mesh size at 64 planned trawl stations during daylight to identify the biological characteristics of fish. Each catch was standardized into catch per unit of time and the catches at each trawl station were sorted, weighed and counted by species. The changes in catches of each fish species and the shifts in dominant species by seasions and sampling regions in the research area were analyzed, and the abundance of fish was estimated from the relationship between the trawl catches and the volume of the water column sampled by demersal trawls. The results obtained can be summarized as follows : 1. During the 64 demersal trawls conducted in the southern waters of Korea, 129 species including 112 species of fishes, 8 species of Cephalopoda and 7 species of Crustacea, were identified Also, during the 1996 and 1997 trawl surveys in the reseach area, a large number of commercially important species with small differences in proportion was found. me proportion of Japanese horse mackerel which comprised 19.8% of the total catch by weight was highest, followed by chub mackerel(15.0%), swordtip squid(9.0%), redwing searobin(6.2%), konoshiro gizzard shad(6.1%), Japanese flying squid(5.8%), silver pomfet(5.1%), blackmouth goosefish(5.1%), etc. Swordtip squid, Japanese flying squid, blackmouth goosefish and blackthroat seaperch were among the dominant species in all seasons with a relatively high and stab1e proportion(3.6~9.0%), and were widely distributed in the entire southern water of Korea. 2. The catch rates by cover net varied at 0.7~91.9% by weight of the total trawl catch by codend and cover net at 64 planned trawl stations and the mean catch rate was 44.4%. Species comprising a major portion of the catches by cover net mainly were swordtip squid, konoshiro gizzard shad, the juveniles of Japanese horse mackerel, blackthroat seaperch and chub mackerel, etc. 3. The distribution density of fish in terms of biomass per unit volume which derived from the catch data by 63 bottom trawl hauls in the southern waters of Korea ranged from 17.9 $\times$ 10-6 to 1,440.9 $\times$ 10-6kg/m3 with the mean value of 153.8 $\times$ 10-6 kg/m3. These fish densities varied between seasons, location of sampling stations and sea conditions. From these results, it is worth noting that the catch composition of multispecies and the increased occurrence of small fish in the southern waters of Korea may also result in new problems in determining the total allowable catch(TAC) levels for economically important species.