• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.30-39
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• 2004

In order to understand the environmental impact of marine cage fish farms, we measured the vertical fluxes of particulate to the sediment, the distribution of organic carbon in core samples, sediment oxygen consumption rate (SOD), and macrobenthos with increasing distance from a fish cage in Miruk island located in Tongyong. The experiment was performed in August 2003. Measured values gradually decreased with distance, indicating that the organic matter in the sediment derived from the fish farm. The dominant macrobenthos species were Tharyx mulifilis, Lumbrineris longifolia, Sigambra tentaculata, and Capitella capitata, occupying 88% of the total population. Capirella capirata, an opportunistic polychaete species, were especially abundant between 0 to 5 m radius range. The estimated impact regions of organic matter enrichment based on sediment consilmption rates and compositions of macrobenthos were in good agreement. Most organic matter derived from the fish farm was deposited within a 10 m radius and then dispersed horizontally to nearby (at least 50 m) surface sediment. The vertical organic carbon fluxes to the sediment at the fish farm were higher by a factor of two than those outside the area. The remineralization organic carbon in the upper sediment layer was estimated to be 50% (1.07 g C m$^{-2}$ day$^{-1}$ ) at the fish farm. In contrast, outside the area, 30% (0.30 g C m$^{-2}$ day$^{-1}$ ) of organic carbon was recycled and the remaining 70% was deposited to the deep sediment layer.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.30-34
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• 1988

In roastal fish farms the farmers, especialy engaging in dealing with the floating cage culture, going to know about relationships between holding capacity and water quality in cage. Some of water quality managers and specialists studing physiological ecology understand that the key of water quality management concerned fish farming is budget of dissolved oxygen. This paper deals with oxygen budget in floating cage of the yellow tail farms at southern coastal area in Korea. The sampling station is located at Konli-Do fish farm near Chungmu, and the data is collected for 24 hours from 3:00 p.m. 8th September 1987. In result, the needed oxygen coming after the consumption by the rearing fish had been supplied with the tide current exchange, the sum of oxygen produced by phytoplankton photosynthesis and diffused from atmosphere are no more that $43\%$ for the needs of sea water consumption included respiration of planktons and decomposition of organic matters. The optimum holding capacity of cage is possible to compute with the calculation of minimum diurnal water exchange rate $[Qin{\cdot}V^{-1}\;(C-\bar{c})]$ through net mesh of cage.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.181-195
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• 2005

To study the effects of aquaculture activity of marine cage fish farms on marine environment, field researches including hydrography, sediment, benthos and trap experiment at the marine cage fish farms(Site A) around estuaries of Tongyeong city were carried out during June $26\~27$, 2003. A simulation using numerical model-DEPOMOD was conducted to predict the solid deposition from fish cage and to assess the probable solid deposition, and the efficiency of environmental management of marine cage fish farms was studied. The marine cage fish farms cultured mainly common sea bass (Lateolabrax japonicus), red seabream (Pagrus major), striped breakperch (Oplegnathus fasciatus) and black rockfish(Sebastes schlegeli), and total amount of cultured fish of the Site A were 23.1MT. The amount of husbandry fish by unit area(and volume) of the fish cage was $43.0kg\;m^{-2}(6.1kg\;m^{-3})$. The daily mean amounts of food fed by unit biomass and cage area were $30.8g\;kg^{-1}day^{-1},\;1.32kg\;m^{-2}day^{-1},$ respectively, at the Site A. The concentration of ORP of the sediment below the center at the Site A was -334.6 mV and the concentrations of AVS, COD, Carbon and Nitrogen were $0.43mg\;g^{-1}dry,\;17.75mg\;g^{-1}dry,\;10.19mg\;g^{-1}dry\;and\;3.49mg\;g^{-1}dry$, respectively. Capitella capitata was dominant benthic species which occupied $57.8\%$ of total species, and the Infaunal Trophical Index(ITI) was marked below 20 within 20 m distance from the edge of the Site A. The result of trap experiment, the solid deposition from the Site A was $34,485g\;m^{-2}yr^{-1}$ at 0 m from the center of the cage and $18,915g\;m^{-2}yr^{-1}$ at 42 m. From a model simulation, it was estimated that using a model simulation, the proportion of unfed food was $40\%$ at the Site A and the annual total amount of solid deposition was 63,401 accounting for $24.4\%$ of the annual total food fed at the Site A. The area solid deposition settled was estimated to be $8,450m^2$, which was about 16 times of the total area of fish cage at the Site A. And concerning ITI and abundance of benthos, the model predicted that sustainable solid flux at the Site A was below $10,000gm^{-2}yr^{-1}$. The percentage of food wasted was main element of solid deposition at the marine cage fish farms, and for minimizing solid deposition it is necessary to increase the efficiency of the food uptake. Based on the result of the model simulation, if the percentage of food wasted decreases to $10\%$ from the current $40\%$, then the solid deposition could decrease to a half. In addition, it was predicted that if farmers use EP pellets as food fed instead of MP and fish trash, solid deposition could decrease by $57\%$. Also this study proposes that the cage facility ratio of the licensed area be decreased to less than $5\%$ to minimize the sediment pollution.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.735-745
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• 2022

In this study, a health assessment was conducted using the Benthic Health Index (BHI) to assess fish cage farms, where a fishery environment assessment was also performed. A total of 43 farms were evaluated located in the East Sea, West Sea, and South Sea in Korea. The results of the BHI health evaluation included 8 grade 1 farms, 4 grade 2, 12 grade 3, and 19 grade 4. The grade 1 farms included sandy sediment farms and those with low intensity aquaculture, while the grade 2 farms included those located in areas with active seawater circulation. The fish cage farms belonging to grade 3 and 4 included the majority of farms with high-intensity aquaculture activities. There was no significant difference in total organic carbon between grade 3 and 4 farms, but the results of polychaete community analysis show that organic matter concentration was significantly higher in grade 4 farms.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.536-544
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• 2012

It is necessary to study the material circulation of coastal ecosystem according to aquacultural activity in order to induce the sustainable production of aquaculture and the fishery environment for the useful use. Hence, it is essential to make an exact assessment for the sedimentation release flux at the sediment-water interface in the aquafarm. Sediment oxygen demand and dissolved inorganic nitrogen release fluxes were compared using in-situ and laboratory incubational examination. Sediment oxygen demands were 116, 34, and $31\;mmol\;O_2\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$ (in-situ incubation), 52, 17, and $15\;mmol\;O_2\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$ (Core incubation) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen release fluxes were 7.18, 7.98, and $1.78\;mmol\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$ (in-situ incubation), 3.33, 3.74, and $1.96\;mmol\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$ (Core incubation) at Tongyeong finfish, Yeosu finfish, and Wando abalone cage farms, respectively. Consequently, in-situ incubation results showed two times higher than laboratory examination. We compared the material flux at the sediment-water interface of each farm and the characteristics between two different kinds of material flux examination.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.235-246
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• 2002

The fish farming using net cages has been developed in many semi-closed bays in the southern coast of Korea for the last two decades. The intensive cage cultures of fishes generate considerable amounts of organic waste in the form of uneaten food and faeces. In order to evaluate the effect of fish farming activities we collected the benthic macrofauna near the fish farm area located in Wolho Islet of Gamak Bay and in Haklim Island of Tongyeong in November 1998. Benthic macrofaunal assemblages showed dramatic changes in species number, species diversity, and faunal abundance in the region of the fish farm. These changes were clearly observed even at a distance of up to 30 m from the fish farming cage area. Within 5 m from the cage, there was a zone with low species diversity and highest density, dominated by opportunistic polychaete worm, Capitella capitata. By a distance of 15-30 m, this zone presents highest species number and higher density. Our results clearly demonstrated that fish farm area was highly enriched with organic materials, and implied that the fish farm industry and adjacent benthic ecosystem in semi-closed bay will be seriously damaged by self produced organic wastes in the near future.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.151-159
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• 1997

Benthic respiration and chemical fluxes were measured at the sediment-water interface underlying the marine fish cages floating on the open coastal waters off Tong-Young, the South Coast of Korea. The effects of cage farming on coastal benthic environment and on mass balance of organic carbon in the benthic boundary layer under the marine fish cages are addressed. In a growing season of caged fishes of June, 1995, benthic chambers and sediment traps were deployed on the sediment-water interfaces of the two sites chosen for this study: 1) Cage Site, directly underlying the fish cages of the farm at 18 m water depth, and 2) Control Site, about 100 m away from the farm at 32 m water depth. Benthic respiration rates and chemical fluxes were calculated from the evolution of dissolved oxygen and chemicals in the chamber water, and mass balance of organic carbon in the benthic boundary layer was constructed based on the vertical flux of particulate organic matter (POM) and chemical fluxes out of the sediment. High organic dumping (6400 mg C $m^{-2}d^{-1}$) and high benthic respiration (230 mmol $O_2\;m^{-2}d^{-1}$) were observed at the Cage Site. Equivalent to 40% of vertical flux of organic carbon into the Cage Site seemed to be decomposed concurrently and released back to overlying waters (2400 mg C $m^{-2}d^{-1}$). Consequently, up to 4000 mg C $m^{-2}d^{-1}$ of organic carbon could be buried into the farm sediment (equivalent to 60% of organic carbon flux into the Cage Site). At the Control Site, relatively less input of organic carbon (4000 mg C $m^{-2}d^{-1}$) and low benthic respiration rate (75 mmol $O_2\;m^{-2}d^{-1}$) were observed despite short distance away from the cages. The influence of cage farming on benthic chemical fluxes might be restricted and concentrated in the sea bottom just below the fish cages in spite of massive organic dumping and high current regime around the fish cage farm.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-25
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• 2022

The aquaculture industry has developed rapidly over the last three decades and is an important industry that supplies over 15% of humans' animal protein intake; therefore, there is a need to increase production to meet the continuous demand. The fish cage farms on the southern coast (Kyengsangnam-do and Jeollanam-do) of Korea are critical resources in aquaculture because they account for approximately 90% of the national total fish cage farms by water area ratio. However, the current aquaculture environment is being gradually affected by climate change, which is a global issue, and its effects are expected to intensify in the future. Therefore, it is urgently imperative to accurately evaluate the effects of climate change on South Korean aquaculture industries and to develop social and national strategies to minimize damage to the fishing industry. The damage to fish farmed in cage farms on the southern coast is increasing annually and the leading causes are high and low water temperature and red tides, which are directly or indirectly related to climate change. At present, global warming can provide opportunities for aquaculture industrialization of fish or other novel species, with economic implications. However, despite such opportunities, the influx of new species can also cause problems such as ecological disturbances, increase in the reproduction frequency of microalgae such as red tide, increase in disease incidence, and occurrence and periods of high water temperatures in summer. The scale of farmed fish mortality is increasing due to the complex effects of these factors. Increased damages due to fish mortality not only have severe economic impacts on the aquaculture industry, but the social costs of responding to the damage and follow-up measures also increase. various active responses can reduce the mortality damage in fish farms such as improving the management skills in aquaculture, improved species breeding, efficient food management, disease prevention, proactive responses, and system-wide improvements. This review article analyzes the large-scale mortality cases occurring in fish cage farms on the southern coast of Korea and proposes measures to mitigate mortality and enhance responses to such scenarios.

• 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 Wind Energy
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.30-42
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• 2024

This paper examines the design feasibility of cage aquaculture coexistent with an offshore wind farm in the southwestern sea of South Korea. Among the many types of fish farms, 2 × 3 cage aquaculture was selected for the investigation and the initial design including mooring lines, bridles, etc. was drawn with iterative numerical simulations using Orcaflex. Experimental campaigns were conducted to validate the numerical results, and they were found to be in good agreement with the experiments. Using a validated numerical model, the tension of mooring lines and the deformed volumes of the facility were examined under given operating and survival conditions. The validated model will be further used to investigate various aspects of the cage farm design for design optimization.