• Proceedings of KOSOMES biannual meeting
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• 2017.11a
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• pp.192-192
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• 2017

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.45-49
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• 2015

Disturbance to marine wildlife is a serious negative impact of marine debris. In this study, the percentages of Black-faced Spoonbill nests that included plastic marine debris were calculated from surveys conducted on an islet named Suhaam off the western coast of South Korea. The percentages of nests including plastic decreased from 71% in 2010 to 37% in 2011 to 33% in 2012. The total number of nests increased from 28 in 2010 to 38 in 2011 to 43 in 2012. These differences in nests and nesting materials were possibly due to natural nesting materials such as tree branches and rice straws that were provided at the breeding site as a protective action in 2011 and 2012. Additional conservation efforts should be made to prevent further negative impacts from marine debris.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.309-314
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• 2023

Shark populations are constantly decreasing owing to environmental destruction and overfishing; thus, sharks are now at risk of extinction, with 30.5% of species classified as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List. Sharks are apex predators and keystone species in balancing the marine food chain; their extinction would create an imbalance in the entire marine ecosystem. Assisted reproductive technology is a last resort for protecting animals facing extinction. Here, as a proactive effort toward building a hormone-induced artificial insemination protocol for endangered wild sharks, we identified the possibility of germ cell maturation by administration of GnRH, a commercially produced synthetic salmon gonadotropin-releasing hormone, and calculated its optimum dosage and injection timing. The experiment was conducted on one shark species, Chiloscyllium plagiosum. Injections were administered in 24 h intervals to C. plagiosum females, and 0.2 mL/kg+0.2 mL/kg were the optimal doses. These doses effectively induced maturation and, and ovulation, and oocyte release. Our results confirm that GnRH is a suitable tool for shark hormone-induced artificial insemination and indicate that this method may facilitate the conservation of endangered shark species.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.645-654
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• 2015

This paper attempts to quantitatively assess the conservation value of Ellobium chinense (EC), which belongs to the endangered marine species designated by Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. To this end, we apply the contingent valuation (CV) method, an economic technique of valuing a non-market goods such as EC. A national survey of randomly selected 1,000 households was administered in order to derive the public's willingness to pay (WTP) for conserving EC. One-and-one-half-bound model was adopted to elicit the WTP responses and a spike model was employed to deal with the zero WTP responses. The results show that the conservation value of EC is estimated to be 2,346 won per household per year that is statistically significant at the 1% level. Expanding the value to the national population gives us an annual value of 43.8 billion won. We can judge that the Korean people are willing to pay a significant amount to conserve EC.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2009

The trumpet shell Charonia sauliae is an endangered and valuable species with potential for aquaculture. For artificial propagation of C. sauliae, the effects of three different food microalgae on the development, growth, and survival rate of the larvae and spat were investigated. For the larval feeding experiments, we utilized six microalgae species as food sources, namely Pavlova lutheri, Tetraselmis suecica, Nannochloris oculata, Isochrysis galbana, Chaetoceros calcitrans, and Phaeodactylum tricornutum; for the larval and spat growth and survival experiments, we utilized T. suecica, C. calcitrans, and P. tricornutum. The results showed that the temporal digestion index (TDI) for the veliger larvae was significantly different for C. sauliae fed the different microalgae species (p < 0.05), that the T. suecica, C. calcitrans, and P. tricornutum cultivars were better suited for larval consumption (p < 0.05), and that the growth and survival of the larvae and spat were significantly influenced by food type, specifically P. tricornutum (p < 0.05). Further research is needed to evaluate the effects of other microalgae species, different algal concentrations, and biochemical composition on the growth and survival of C. sauliae.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.213-224
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• 2024

Betta rubra, classified as endangered fish species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has been successfully bred and raised in captivity for two generations under laboratory conditions. This study aimed to provide comprehensive information on the captive breeding of B. rubra, focusing on various parameters crucial for ex-situ conservation and domestication. The research involved breeding trials, embryo and larvae observation, first feeding experiments, larva and fry rearing trials, and the evaluation of growth and reproduction in two generations. The study revealed that the female B. rubra, with an average total length of 5.17 ± 0.15 cm and weight of 1.61 ± 0.06 g, produced an average of 73.67 ± 7.09 eggs, 34.33 ± 5.13 total larvae, and exhibited a hatching rate of 46.67 ± 5.77%. The embryogenesis process commenced on the day of spawning (dps) and continued until the eggs hatched at 6 dps. Larvae development and yolk absorption occurred from 0 to 6 days post-hatching (dph). The study also examined the impact of different initial feeding options, with chopped Tubifex resulting in the most significant in- crease (p < 0.05) in length. The growth pattern of B. rubra larvae showed slow initial growth during the first seven days, followed by a rapid exponential growth phase from day 8 to day 39. Two generations of B. rubra (G1 and G2) were successfully bred in captivity, with G2 showing a better tendency for growth in length and weight compared to G1. Notably, there were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in reproductive success between the wild-origin broodstock (G0), G1, or G2. This research contributes valuable insights into the captive breeding of B. rubra and its early life stages, offering critical information for the conservation and sustainable management of this endangered species. Further research is needed to explore the long-term effects of domestication on behavior, physiology, and phenotypic diversity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.101-111
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• 2018

The Korean government has been trying to conserve a marine ecosystem that has been shifting due to climate change. As part of this effort, the government designated seventy-seven marine species that have been disappearing and deserve to be protected as endangered managing them specially. To generate basic data to guide policy for these endangered species, their value must be measured. OOf the species declared endangered, coral is particularly threatened by climate change, and its management is important. Accordingly, understanding the potential value of reefs, can be an effective way of proving the benefits of continuous management to decision makers and the general public alike. To this end, we have applied the contingent valuation method (CVM), an economic technique of for valuing a environmental and non-market goods such as a coral reef. A national face-to-face survey of 1,000 randomly selected households was conducted in order to determine the public's willingness to pay (WTP) for conserving coral reefs. A one-and-one-half-bound (OOHB) model was adopted to interpret WTP responses, and a spike model was employed to deal with zero WTP responses. The results show that the conservation value of a coral reef can be estimated at 3,016 won per household per year, statistically significant at the 1 % level. Expanding values to the national population gives an annual value of 58.9 billion won. We can conclude that the public is willing to pay a significant amount to conserve coral reefs.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.248-254
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• 2007

Representative cDNA libraries were constructed from various tissue sources of Hemibarbus mylodon, an endangered freshwater fish species in Korea, for the mining of expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Randomized and non-normalized EST analysis was performed with 7 unidirectional cDNA libraries generated from brain, intestine, kidney, liver, muscle, ovary or testis. Of 3,383 ESTs in total, the number of singleton was 2,029, and 333 contigs containing 1,354 ESTs were assembled (percent of unigene = 70.0%). Abundantly expressed gene transcripts and broad clustering of putative gene function were tissue-specific in general, and the redundancy was also variable among those libraries. Over half of H. mylodon ESTs were matched with orthologues from other teleosts among which zebrafish gene sequences were the most frequent in those matches. This initial setting of EST libraries achieved in the present study would be a fundamental basis for the banking of gene resources from this endangered fish species.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.917-926
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• 2022

The green turtle Chelonia mydas has been designated as an endangered species globally due to its reduced population. Although C. mydas is not known to reproduce on the shores of the Korean peninsula, it has been listed as a protected marine species in South Korea. This study describes the first successful captive breeding of C. mydas in a commercial aquarium in South Korea and provides information on the early growth patterns of C. mydas hatched and reared in indoor facilities. C. mydas YS-B003 laid a total of 594 eggs in ten nesting events in the period December 2016-June 2017. Of these, 115 fertilized eggs from six events hatched successfully. The size of the newly hatched turtles differed significantly among nesting events. The hatchlings from the 8^th and 9^th nesting events were relatively smaller than those from the 3^rd and 5^th events. The rate of growth initially varied across the different events, but from the 1,000^th day, the inter-group variation disappeared. The present study provides useful information for future captive breeding of sea turtles in indoor facilities, which would contribute to the protection of these endangered sea turtle species.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.158-172
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• 2022

The distribution of seabirds was investigated in 24-34 major coastal wetlands in Korea from 2015 to 2019. During the study period, seven orders, 16 families, and 111 species were observed, and the largest number of species (51-89 species) was recorded in 2018. 92,821-265,783 individuals per year were observed with the largest number in 2018. The largest number of species (55-72 species) was observed in the southern sites of Jeollado, and the largest number of individuals (annual average of 62,542 individuals) was found in Chungcheong regions. The largest number of seabird species (68 species) was observed at the Suncheon Bay site in 2016, and the largest number of individuals (95,399 individuals) was observed at Biin and Jangan sites in 2018. In terms of the habitat type of seabirds, at the family level, shorebirds appeared most frequently with an average of 38%, followed by waterfowl, wading birds, seabirds, and raptors. With regard to legally protected species, eight protected marine species, 19 endangered wildlife species (Level I: six species, Level II: 13 species), and twelve natural monument species were observed. Overall, there was a significant difference in the number of species and individuals of seabirds in the Korean coastal wetlands during the research period. This suggests the importance of conducting systematic and continuous seabird surveys and developing a conservation policy considering habitat characteristics.