• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.129-136
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• 2004

Visual line-transect surveys for the finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides) were conducted in the offshore of the west coast of Korea (WCOK) from 18 April to 17 May 2001 $(34^{\circ}18'\;to\;37^{\circ}18'N,\;123^{\circ}00'\;to\;126^{\circ}00'E),$ and in the inshore of the west coast of Korea (WCIK) from 29 July to 2 August 2003 $(35^{\circ}17'\;to\;36^{\circ}17'N,\;126^{\circ}00'\;to\;126^{\circ}25'E).$ A total of transect survey efforts were 810.27 n.m. in 2001 and 216.09 n.m. in 2003, which cover a survey areas of $23,012\;n.m^2\;and\;1,550\;n.m^2,$ respectively. There were 76 and 24 sightings for the finless porpoise during the surveys in the WCOK (2001) and the WCIK (2003), respectively. More than $80\%$ of the finless porpoise occurred near the coast within 15 n.m. from the land. Porpoise were observed mainly in a depth range from 20 to 50 m $(78\%).$ Few porpoise were observed in a depth shallower than 10 m or deeper than 60 m. The hazard-rate model, truncated at the largest $5\%$ distance, showed the best fitting from the frequency distribution of perpendicular distance of the finless porpoise sighted from the trackline in the WCOK (2001), while the uniform model showed the best fitting from in the WCIK (2003). Abundance of finless porpoises were estimated to be 58,650 individuals ($95\%$ CI=34,961-98,389) in the WCOK (2001) and 1,571 individuals ($95\%$ CI=881-2,800) in the WCIK (2003), respectively.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.665-669
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• 2010

To confirm the distributon of finless porpoise, Neophocaena phocaenoides, in the South Sea of Korea, data on bycatch, stranding, and drifting of finless porpoises from 1999 to 2009 were used and a sighting survey was conducted from the R/V Tamgu No. 9 and 10 in June and November, 2009 and March, 2010. The total number of bycaught, stranded, and drifting finless porpoises was 607, with position being known for 186 of these. At the center of Yeosu, there were few position data on bycaught, stranded, and drifting finless porpoises, and data could not confirm the distribution of finless porpoises. Thus, there were limits on the usefulness of bycaught, stranded, and drifting data for confirming the distribution of finless porpoises. In the three sighting surveys, the sighting rate was highest at 0.231 ind./n.m. in the western South Sea in June, 2009. Sighting rate was less than 0.1 ind./n.m. in November, 2009 and March, 2010. This is likely to be due to seasonal migration in western South Sea. All sighting rates in the eastern South Sea were over 0.13 ind./n.m.. According to the results of the sighting survey, finless porpoises are distributed around the islands and inner bay along the path of the research vessel in the South Sea. There were numerous finless porpoises in the offshore areas of Mokpo, Yeosu, Tongyeong, Dadaepo, and Gaduk-do. This study will be utilized as part of a future abundance assessment of finless porpoise in the South Sea of Korea.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.201-209
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• 2007

Line transect sampling in a sighting survey is one of most widely used methods for assessing animal abundance. This study applied distance data, collected from three sighting surveys using line transects for finless porpoise that were conducted in 2004 and 2005 off the west coast of Korea, to four models (hazard-rate, uniform, half-normal and exponential) that can use a variety of detection functions, g (x). The hazard-rate model, a derived model for the detection function, should have a shoulder condition chosen using the AIC (Akaike Information Criterion), as the most suitable model. However, it did not describe a shoulder shape for the value of g(x) near the track tine and underestimated g (x), just as the exponential model did. The hazard-rate model showed a bias toward overestimating the densities of finless porpoises with a higher coefficient of variation (CV) than the other models did. The uniform model underestimated the densities of finless porpoise but had the lowest CV. The half-normal model described a detection function with a shape similar to that of the uniform model. The half-normal model was robust for finless porpoise data and should be able to avoid density underestimation. The estimated abundance of finless porpoise was 3,602 individuals (95% CI=1,251-10,371) inshore in 2005 and 33,045 individuals (95% CI=24,274-44,985) offshore in 2004.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.892-900
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• 2013

In 2011, the system for conserving and managing cetacean resources in Korea changed. The status of the cetacean bycatch was analyzed using a distribution certificate that was issued by the coast guard. During 2011.2012, 12 species were bycatch in Korean waters: three species of baleen whale and nine species of dolphin. The finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides) was the dominant species, followed by the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), and Pacific white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens). Among the baleen whales, the common minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) was first and Bryde's (Balaenoptera edeni) and humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) whales appeared in the Korea Strait and East Sea, respectively. Among the dolphins, the finless porpoise ranked first in the Yellow Sea. The common dolphin, Pacific white-sided dolphin, and harbor porpoise were more frequent in the East Sea than in other waters. The cetacean bycatch was caused mainly by pots, set nets, gill nets, and stow nets. Among the three species of baleen whale, the common minke whale was caught by pots and set nets, and comprised over 68.9% of the total bycatch in 2011 and 56.2% in 2012. Comparing the bycatch caused by fishing gears by area in 2011 and 2012, 97.9% and 99.6%, respectively, of the finless porpoise bycatch in the Yellow Sea was by stow nets. In the Korea Strait, trawl bycatch comprised 67.3% in 2011 and 73.0% in 2012, followed by gill nets, set nets, and pots targeting finless porpoise and common minke whales. In the East Sea, gill nets were responsible for 46.7% in 2011 and 61.2% in 2012, followed by set nets and pots.